Solihull School: ages 3–18 on two campuses, with no automatic progression

Check the actual subject route for 2027

The September 2026 Senior curriculum policy says Thirds, or Year 7, choose French or Spanish; Shells add German. An older department page still calls Spanish compulsory in Thirds. We would use the dated policy but confirm the 2027 arrangement.

GCSE pupils take a modern language and can follow combined or separate sciences. Sixth form offers three or four A levels, subject to viable combinations. The published subject index is broad, but Greek appears in the policy and not on that index.

For pupils taking three A levels, 2026–27 options include EPQ, a financial-services qualification and the school’s Guardian Shield programme, subject to demand. These details may change by a later cohort.

The policy gives approximate daily homework of 50 minutes in Years 7 and 8, 60–90 in Year 9 and 80 in Years 10 and 11. Sixth form is about four hours weekly per subject. Use those figures to test the family evening, not as a promise that every night is identical.

The Senior day ends at 4.10—but school life may not

The live-linked 2025–26 Senior handbook gives registration at 8.40am and lessons ending at 4.10pm. It remains useful context but is not a confirmed 2027 handbook.

The campus opens at 7.30am, yet direct supervision is not promised before registration outside organised activities. The library is described as staffed from 8am to 6pm, and pupils waiting for late collection are directed there. Confirm these arrangements for the entering year.

Selected Saturday matches are commitments. A day school can still place important activities outside the Monday-to-Friday timetable.

Do not assume a bus route solves the late journey

The school’s transport portal identifies 2026–27, but we could not confirm current routes, fares, minimum ages or late-activity services from the public pages. Ask for the bookable stop and return timetable relevant to your child.

Try the full journey at school time. For younger children, include the handover to wraparound care. For Senior pupils, test the route after a 4.10 finish and after a club or Saturday match. A place can look local on a map and still create an exhausting week.

Outdoor life is part of the rhythm, not just a brochure image

The outdoor programme includes Year 7 Terriers, a Snowdonia week for Shell pupils, CCF from Year 9 and Duke of Edinburgh routes from Bronze to Gold.

The wider programme spans academic enrichment, community, music, outdoor education, performing arts and sport. Its detailed activity download covers 2025–26, so use it to generate questions, not as a guaranteed 2027 timetable.

“Many opportunities” can feel very different depending on access and time.

The inspection found strength, but support is not automatic

The pastoral route begins with the form tutor, then Head of Year or section and safeguarding staff. The school describes nursing and assessed access to counselling, art therapy or CBT. The public material reviewed did not specify waiting times or promise a particular therapy to every pupil.

The public learning-support page says support is not charged. The newer September 2026 policy qualifies that: provision is assessed, not automatic, and some additional support may involve charges agreed in advance.

Younger Senior pupils may rotate withdrawal from lessons; older pupils can use lunchtime, tutor time or private study.

The January 2024 ISI inspection found all standards met and identified detailed monitoring and coordinated responses to individual needs as a significant strength. Its recommendation was to use available technology more fully in Prep and Lower School.

An unannounced 2023 additional inspection found the examined requirements met. The report does not explain why the Department for Education requested it. Neither inspection guarantees a future individual experience.

The published totals include more than tuition

The 2026–27 fee page combines tuition, VAT, lunch, books and stationery. That makes its totals easier to compare internally, but transport, public examinations, some trips and activities remain extra.

These calculations multiply the published term total by three; they are not a 2027–28 quotation. Sixth form may opt out of lunch by the school’s first-week deadline. Current employed-teacher music tuition calculates to £309 including VAT for ten lessons, with instrument hire £34.80 per term.

The Shell Snowdonia charge is listed as £195 annually. A £480 deposit including VAT is separate and is normally credited at the end under the contract, but relinquishing an accepted place can change the outcome.

The Nursery page carries an old-looking URL but displays 2026–27 tables. Its compulsory-session totals calculate to £6,897.46 for the year; full-time totals calculate to £12,084.05. Funding hours and opt-out items make a generic VAT or weekly calculation unsafe—request the child’s actual schedule.

Senior bursaries and a 2023 income guide

Bursaries are means-tested for Senior School and can potentially cover full tuition, with further help in some circumstances. Declare interest by registration. A 2023 leaflet uses household income up to £75,000 as an indicative guide; ask for current criteria rather than treating it as a threshold.

The 2027 calendar has three different tracks

These dates come from the current application page. Keep the school’s confirmation emails because some older leaflets use generic months that do not match this cycle.

The sixth-form information evening is 3 November 2026; internal scholarship applications close 2 December. Artistic and sporting 11+ scholarship assessments run 23–26 November; external sixth-form interviews and those scholarship assessments run 21–27 January 2027. Save scholarship dates separately from the general entrance examination.

Senior applications require disclosure of learning differences or SEND and depend on the school’s ability to make suitable adjustments. That is not a reason to hide a need in the hope of securing a place; it is a reason to ask precise questions early.

At 11+, four assessment strands come together

External 11+ applicants take one-hour English and one-hour maths papers, without calculators in maths. Verbal and non-verbal reasoning, interview and a school reference complete the process. The public material we reviewed did not specify reasoning duration, score weights, pass mark or interview rubric.

The official sample page links two English specimens, maths and GL familiarisation. That makes the free material a sensible starting point. It does not prove the entire assessment is a standard GL product or predict the next questions.

English Sample A divides an hour into 40-minute reading and 20-minute continuation; Sample B uses 35 and 25 minutes. Practise adjusting to the instructions on the paper rather than memorising one split. Both reward comprehension and controlled writing.

The maths specimen moves from short arithmetic towards multi-step problems. Working is requested in later sections. Practise fractions, sequences, measures, money and unfamiliar wording, while keeping the child’s underlying arithmetic secure.