King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls

If your daughter is one of those clever, quietly determined girls who wants to be among others just like her, Camp Hill Girls is the Birmingham school families across the city hope she'll win a place at. The Good Schools Guide calls it 'a top tier state school where pupils are inspired and enabled to achieve their very best', an education 'as excellent as you will get anywhere'. Entry is by examination at Year 7 and again at Year 12, and the school makes a real point of reflecting the whole of Birmingham, welcoming applications from across the city. Its roots reach back to 1883, and since 1958 it has shared the Vicarage Road site in Kings Heath with its neighbouring brother school, Camp Hill Boys, both part of the historic King Edward VI Foundation.

What parents notice first is how calm and self-disciplined the place feels, settled rather than heavily policed. Girls told reviewers 'we know our own boundaries', and permanent exclusions are very rare. Music runs deep here, from a hugely popular show choir to an auditioned chamber choir and ensembles often shared with the boys. The house system, with houses named after places woven into the school's own history, gives the year its rhythm of festivals, fairs and friendly competition. Girls come across as smart, articulate and warm, and the school is kept so well that visiting parents sometimes struggle to believe it is a state school.

It suits an academically ambitious, independent-minded girl who will rise to high expectations and stay happy doing so. Former pupils include the actress Kate Ashfield and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. Led since 2022 by headteacher Karen Stevens, who first joined the school in 2008, Camp Hill is a place where a bright girl will be known and at ease.