What Birmingham maths tutoring actually looks like
A typical engagement in Edgbaston (B15): a Year 5 starting King Edward’s 11+ prep in January for the September exam. Tutor is a Birmingham Uni Maths postgrad or a former KEHS prep teacher, £35 an hour, weekly 60-minute sessions for 18 months. Total spend across that period is roughly £2,000-£2,500 — a serious investment, but the King Edward’s schools are heavily oversubscribed and the prep is genuinely necessary.
GCSE engagements are shorter and less intense. A Year 11 at Bishop Vesey’s (Sutton Coldfield) sitting AQA GCSE Maths might book a tutor in B73 for £35 weekly across October-May, total around £1,000. Sessions usually focus on the topics the school is teaching that week plus past-paper practice on the Higher tier (Paper 1 non-calculator, Papers 2 and 3 calculator).
A-level engagements concentrate in B15, B17 and B91. A Year 13 at Solihull School sitting Edexcel A-level Maths might book a Birmingham Uni Maths PhD for £45 hourly, 14 sessions across spring term, focused on Paper 3 (stats and mechanics) where most A-level grades are made or lost.
Where the tutors live
Density is concentrated:
- B15-B16 (Edgbaston): heaviest, all levels, £25-£50
- B17 (Harborne): high density, family-heavy, £28-£45
- B13 (Moseley): mid-density mix
- B73-B75 (Sutton Coldfield): demand-rich, tutor-light, £30-£50
- B91-B94 (Solihull): similar to Sutton, £30-£50
- Central B (B1-B5): mostly online, fewer family homes
Filter by postcode on TheTutorLink to see who’s actually local. A tutor 8 miles away is doable for weekly in-person if they drive; otherwise online.
A real example — King Edward’s 11+, Harborne
A Harborne (B17) family started 11+ prep with a tutor in B15 (Edgbaston) in January of Year 5 for the September entrance exam. Tutor was a former KES prep school teacher charging £40 an hour. Weekly 60-minute sessions across 18 months, total around £2,800. Daughter sat the KEFB consortium exam in September and was offered a place at KEHS (King Edward VI High School for Girls). The detail: the tutor ran nine timed mock exams across May-August using past KEFB papers, which the parents couldn’t get hold of independently. The mock practice plus the timing strategy was the difference. Without the specialist 11+ prep, the family estimated their daughter would have placed in the offer band but probably below the cut-off — the volume of competition in Birmingham 11+ is significant.
When to start and how often
For King Edward’s 11+ prep, January of Year 5 is the standard start point — that gives 18-20 months to the September Year 6 exam. Weekly 60-minute sessions across that period total around 65-75 sessions at £35-£40 hourly, total spend £2,200-£2,800. Earlier than Year 5 is generally too soon (children burn out) and later than September of Year 5 leaves the prep too compressed unless your child is already strong on the foundations.
For the Trafford consortium test (sat in September of Year 6), the pattern is similar but slightly shorter — January of Year 5 through September of Year 6, around 15 months. GCSE engagements run October-May of Year 11, total 28-30 sessions at £30-£35, around £900-£1,050. A-level engagements at Solihull, KEHS and KES run more intensively in spring of Year 13, 14-16 sessions at £45 hourly, total £630-£720. Bishop Vesey’s and other Sutton Coldfield grammars often follow the same pattern but with slightly more travel-time challenges for in-person tutors.
What it costs and how to book
Birmingham maths tutoring: primary £20-£30, 11+ specialist £30-£45, GCSE £25-£40, A-level £35-£55. A serious GCSE engagement across Year 11 totals £900-£1,200 at typical rates. A-level Year 13 runs £1,400-£1,800 across 28 weeks of 90-minute sessions at £50 hourly. King Edward’s 11+ prep across 18-20 months totals £2,200-£2,800 — significant money, but King Edward’s is heavily oversubscribed and the prep is what tips many candidates over the threshold. The 5% platform fee on TheTutorLink means the rate you see is broadly what you pay. Tutorful, MyTutor and Superprof take 20-25%, which is why several experienced Birmingham tutors have moved their listings here. Across an 18-month King Edward’s 11+ engagement that’s between £400 and £600 redirected from platform to tutor — money that lets a specialist 11+ tutor in Edgbaston stay in the work full-time rather than supplementing with school cover. For families this matters indirectly: the better tutors stay listed for longer and don’t disappear back into school teaching. Filter by your B postcode, by exam board (AQA, Edexcel, OCR for A-level), and by level (11+, GCSE, A-level). Message two or three local tutors with a specific question — which school, which paper, current and target grade. The first lesson is free, useful for checking whether the tutor knows the King Edward’s 11+ format if that’s what you need, or the AQA paper structure for GCSE. Book the trial with whoever answers cleanly and seems to know the specific exam your child is sitting.