• Highclare School is family minded, ambitious and broad based and treats continuity from early years to sixth form as a key strength rather than a background detail.

• Will suit families who want a co-educational all-through day school in Birmingham where children can be known well over time and where school life feels joined up.

Admissions at Highclare School are broad based and fairly accessible, with room for families to join early and continue through later stages. The process focuses on fit with the school's culture and all-through rhythm rather than on a highly theatrical form of selectivity.

Highclare publicly presents scholarships and bursaries as part of the broader proposition, which may matter especially at senior entry. Even so, many families choose the school as much for continuity, atmosphere and opportunity as for financial support.

Published information is more developed than many smaller all-through schools, with a clear educational vision and a reasonable sense of pupil life beyond exam results. Parents should still test whether the atmosphere, curriculum and pastoral culture feel as coherent in person as they do online.