King's School, Rochester

King's School, Rochester has grown around a long relationship with the cathedral city. More than 1,400 years of history sit behind a co-educational community that runs from nursery to Sixth Form, with the cathedral precinct, Rochester Castle and the River Medway close to school life. The setting gives the school a strong historical character, but pupils encounter it through ordinary lessons, activities and relationships rather than as a museum piece.

Art and Design encourages pupils to develop their own ideas, and that emphasis on individual creativity continues into the Sixth Form. Students can choose from 23 A Level subjects and complete the EPQ. Music, sport, art and design, LAMDA drama, the CCF and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award add different kinds of discipline and expression to the academic programme.

School House, built in 1880, supports full, weekly, flexible and occasional boarding from Year 7 to Sixth Form. Meals, supervised study, trips and weekend activities make residential life part of the wider school community, while day pupils remain central to the co-educational experience. The school therefore supports several ways of belonging without separating boarding from the main life of the school.

Admission is direct. At 11+, candidates sit English, mathematics and non-verbal reasoning before interview, reference and a taster day; Year 9 entry uses Common Entrance or interview and information from the previous school, while Sixth Form entry considers GCSE results, interview and school information. King's combines an unusually deep history with a broad modern education and a flexible boarding pattern.