King’s College
Senior schools in london
King’s College School is an independent school for boys from ages eleven to eighteen, with girls joining from sixteen. The school resides out in Wimbledon, away from the main hustle and bustle of the city but it features in many parent’s list of schools nowadays, thanks to its recent stellar achievements.
School information
The school has achieved phenomenal academic grades in recent times under the stewardship of headmaster Andrew Hall. Last year’s boys achieved 81% of all GCSE’s at A*, with 96% achieving A*/A. The A-Level grades are also equally impressive, with sixth form boys and girls achieving 95% of the grades at A*/A/B. The school also has strong IB performance with 51% awarded an A*/Higher level 7.
The headteacher places great emphasis on having a well-rounded education. Judging from parent’s and student’s comments, he has gone a long way towards achieving this. Students remark on how enthusiastic and caring the teachers are; going the extra mile to help inside and outside the classroom.
The sports facilities are good, with the school making sure that students have a wide range of sports to choose from. The school offers the usual sports such as football, cricket, rugby and athletics. Increasingly popular sports outside the mainstream including fencing, badminton and rowing are also available.
The arts are not overlooked at Kings, with a main theatre and a studio theatre for any aspiring thespians to perform in a number of school productions throughout the year. Participation in music is encouraged, ranging from smaller scale performances to large orchestral evenings.
King’s ensures that students feel part of a wider community outside of the school grounds, with an initiative called Co-Curricular Fridays. According to our feedback, the students enjoy their participation enormously. They go out to surrounding state primary, secondary and special needs schools to help out.
admissions
Around fifty-four boys are admitted every year at 7+ (year 3) with a further fourteen boys at 8+ (year 4). After the registration, your child is interviewed by a member of staff. The school also requires a report from your child’s headteacher and candidates need to attend an activity session. The exam phase consists of a twenty-five-minute listening test, forty-five-minute English test, forty-five-minute maths test and a reasoning test.
The entry at 9+ and 10+ follow a similar route, except with the interview occurring after the examinations. The written exams are based on the national curriculum but as always, studying slightly beyond increases your child’s chances at this stage.
Registration for entry at 11+ should be done by November, while your child is in year 6. Your child will have to sit three exams in January: English, maths and verbal reasoning. Sample papers are available from the school to indicate the level you should expect on exam day. Successful candidates from the exam phase are then invited to attend an interview. Successful applicants are notified in February.
Entry at 13+ is also available but please be aware that you cannot apply to both the 11+ and the 13+, as the exams are on the same day. The registration should also be done while your child is in Year 6 and the initial process is similar to that of the 11+ entry, with the pre-test examinations occurring in January, followed by an interview for successful candidates. Beyond that, the student then sits a qualifying exam towards the end of year 8, which will either be the common entrance or scholarship route.
Entry at 16 includes a sixty-minute maths paper, a sixty-minute English paper and a seventy-minute general paper, which is sat in the second half of the first term of year 11. Interviews follow and offers are made in December.