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Our view
For one of the oldest schools in the country (it’s been around since 597AD, when St Augustine arrived to evangelise England, and was rebranded by Henry VIII in 1541 as his own school – hence the name), The King’s School, Canterbury feels thoroughly modern. New head Jude Lowson is a wonderfully forward-thinking leader and while tradition (the sixth form heads of houses wear purple gowns passed down through the years) and the school’s storied musical reputation are part of the fabric, this is a school that knows how to move with the times.
Where?
There can be few rivals for King’s position in the shadow of Canterbury Cathedral. It’s an ecclesiastical oasis left unchanged for centuries. Some school buildings are set within the tight confines of the tourist-choked Cathedral Precincts; others are scattered higgledy-piggledy across town. It’s a mission to navigate (don’t ask pupils to help – tradition tells them to send bemused visitors off in the wrong direction), tricky to modernise (it’s part of a World Heritage site) and patrolled by seagulls circling overhead. But they’ve got it all here, and we can’t think of many more inspiring places to learn.
Canterbury is the perfect schooldays city: enough shops and people to be interesting, small and safe enough for teens to wander into town for a pizza and develop a dollop of independence. And despite pupils’ unmistakable pinstriped, wing-collared uniform, we’re assured town-and-gown relations are about as amicable as they come. The school's location may not be in the centre of the UK – but families from all over the globe seek it out for its glittering reputation.
Head
In September 2023 King's got its very first female head, with Jude Lowson – most recently interim head at King's College School, Wimbledon – taking up the top spot. Academic, ambitious, and most importantly, hugely friendly and charismatic, she’s got stuck right in, meeting every pupil and teacher and really listening to what they have to say. She has a ‘very modern approach’ one member of staff told us, with an outreach programme already in the planning and grasping the nettle of AI by setting up a guide for teachers and pupils. She wants parents to be more involved and the pupil voice to be louder – they’re an integral part of her outreach plans. She’s moved from Croydon with her wife and daughter, who is at the pre-prep, and has plans to put on weekend buses to London and west Kent.
Admissions
King’s has long relied on prep-school heads to recommend the right pupils for entry at 13+ – the absence of a pre-test is a deliberate attempt to ease the pressure of the admissions process (that said, change is afoot and pupils looking at entry in 2024 onwards will now have to sit the ISEB test, so do check before applying). There are about five applicants per place (around 30 of the 160 spots are filled by pupils from The Junior King's School); pupils need a glowing reference, a good performance at interview and a decent pass mark at CE (or the school’s own exam). Upon acceptance of a place, families are invited to come and scope out the different houses and express a preference, which is taken into account. A handful of places open up in Year 10, and there’s another big intake into the sixth form (20 boys, 35 girls) via an assessment weekend and two interviews. Around three to four apply for each sixth-form place with the numbers of day pupils growing.
Scholarships are awarded in Years 9 and 12 and in cases of proven financial need, additional bursary assistance may be available.
Academics and destinations
Prepare for a relatively pacey curriculum, but pupils quickly learn to manage their timetables so they can cram in as much co-curricular as classroom time. They are a motivated bunch – one parent told us the attitude among pupils is it’s ‘cool to work’ – and the learning style is quite university-like. There are only sets for languages, science and maths, and a spanking new science block with huge labs adds to the already fantastic facilities. The stunning library is a real focal point, stashed with over 30,000 books and journals (it’s open till 10pm every day, so there’s no excuse not to pop in), and pupils also access a virtual-learning environment through an app on their tablets or laptops to obtain research materials or submit homework. High praise too for the Hub, the dedicated learning-support department that helps with revision and study skills.
Pupils are actively encouraged to throw a creative subject into their GCSE or A-level mix, and sixth-formers pick from 32 options – Mandarin, geology and music technology included. Diversity and multilingualism are celebrated – French and Spanish native speakers can work towards a French or Spanish qualification alongside their usual GCSE courses.
The dedicated careers centre forms the backbone of a strong programme of higher-education support. On average around 80 per cent of leavers head to Russell Group universities, but others go off to drama schools, art colleges, music conservatoires, join the armed forces or sign up for computer science apprenticeships.
Co-curricular
It’s a 10-minute walk across town to the Rec Centre (filled with squash courts, a smart fitness suite, swimming pool, fencing salle, shooting range and more) and extensive playing fields – and sailors and rowers can use nearby Westbere Lake. Everyone – sixth-formers too – gets three afternoons of sport per week (with matches on Saturdays); there’s a clutch of former internationals and Olympians in the staff room; and a specialist Excellence Programme for the top athletes. Bar lacrosse and netball, pretty much every one of the 20 sports on offer is co-ed, and team tours take pupils to far-flung climes such as Dubai, Japan and South Africa. Sport is very inclusive and everyone has a Saturday activity even if they are not in a team.
This is one of the top non-specialist music schools in the country with 600 music lessons taking place weekly. A new state-of-the-art recording and rehearsal studio has just been completed which will no doubt boost the A-level music technology on offer. But even if a pupil isn’t particularly into music, there’s so much exposure here that they’ll quickly learn to love it. Elite choir the Crypt gets to sing evensong in the cathedral each week; others join the full symphony orchestra, rock out in one of the jazz or pop groups, attend masterclasses led by world-class soloists or make their own music in the recording studio (there’s also the annual House Song competition which is highly competitive and a big deal). And they don’t keep all this talent to themselves: a few years ago, the school launched a pioneering scheme, Sounding Out, to provide free music lessons to primary-school children all over Canterbury (proof they don’t just live in a medieval bubble here).
The award-winning Malthouse theatre was opened by Joanna Lumley in 2019 (there’s a play each term), and they’ve recently unveiled a shiny new dance studio, prompting the school to start handing out dance scholarships for the first time. The annual King’s Week is a mini-Edinburgh Festival of plays, concerts and performances, all set against the awe-inspiring backdrop of the cathedral – and parents travel from far and wide to be there.
All pupils participate in the activities programme too, which ranges from opera club and photography to debating and mountain biking.
Boarding
Boarding is brilliantly flexi. It’s full rather than weekly, but essentially pupils can head home any weekend they like, as long as they’re back for Sunday evensong (that said, we’re assured the place doesn’t empty out at weekends – most choose to stay in). Boarders are in the vast majority (they make up around 80 per cent of the school), and newbies join one of 13 houses dotted around town (day pupils have their own, with everything except the beds). Most are gorgeous to look at: some are Georgian, others medieval (complete with spiral staircases and wood panelling) and one or two are brand-spanking new – each has its own character and traditions. The boys’ house we visited had just been refurbished with wooden floors, a TV room, pool table and impressive kitchen facilities. No in-house dining: the whole school eats all meals together across three central dining rooms (the coolest one is totally Hogwarts, with vaulted ceilings and long wooden tables).
School community
Pastoral care is overseen by housemasters/mistresses and matrons, plus a brilliant tutor system. Academic staff attached to each house meet with their tutees weekly, monitoring progress and reports, as well as keeping a close eye on wellbeing and mental health. Prefects are identified by their purple gowns and can be approached by anyone if they need help, are lost or just want to chat. There are also independent listeners and peer listeners who have been specially trained.
There’s a big local Kent catchment area, but given Canterbury is less than an hour from St Pancras, King’s is a no-brainer for London parents too (it also has an international feel: there are 73 different nationalities on the school roll, and 30 percent are overseas students) and there is a big family community. We really took to the pupils we met: a wonderful mix of cheeky and academic – and a terrifically well-rounded bunch.
And finally...
A school that welcomes everyone and celebrates everyone’s achievements be they academic, musical, arty, sporty or dramatic, King’s has a fantastically inclusive atmosphere. Working hard and reaching your goals is baked into the ethos here, and with its splendid city centre location (the cathedral doubles up as the school chapel), there’s the air of a university about it – something that no doubt inspires the pupils who seem to soar in everything they do.