King's College Taunton 7+, 11+, 13+ and 16+ Admissions: Process, Scholarships, Fees

King's College Taunton admissions follow a single route at every entry point: a visit, a taster day, an online Registration Form, the school's own assessments and a reference from the current school, with an interview added at 13+ and 16+. The entry points from age 7 are 7+ into the Prep, 11+ into Year 7 of the Prep, 13+ into Year 9 of the senior school and 16+ into the Lower Sixth. The assessments are set by the school itself, which the admissions pages call King's assessments.

Most Prep pupils move up to the senior school at Year 9, which makes 13+ the main entry point into King's and the route covered in most detail below. Offers rest on assessment results, and a place is secured by returning an acceptance form and paying a deposit by an agreed deadline.

Entry points and places

The school admits at 7+, 11+, 13+ and 16+, and it also takes children into Reception of the Pre-Prep at 4+. Entry into the Prep is considered for all year groups and at any point in the academic year, including September, so a child can join outside the usual intake.

The published admissions pages give no number of places or forms of entry at any entry point. Families who need that figure for a particular year group can ask the Admissions team through the Enquiry Form on the Contact page.

• 7+: the Prep, all year groups considered
• 11+: Year 7 of King's College Prep
• 13+: Year 9 of the senior school, a boarding and day entry
• 16+: Lower Sixth, with a place dependent on GCSE results

How the 13+ assessment works

At 13+ a child sits the school's own assessments, attends a taster day and has an interview, and the school requests a reference from the current school. Offers are made on the strength of the assessment results.

The admissions pages do not list the subjects, the length of the papers or the question types. They describe no pre-test in Year 6 or Year 7 and no conditional offer stage either.

Common Entrance appears on the fees page only as an examination fee for international Prep pupils, alongside scholarship assessments. Families wanting to know which papers apply to their child can ask the Admissions team when they register.

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Registration and the admissions timeline

Registration is an online form submitted after a visit and a taster day, and the steps that follow are the same at each entry point. The pages publish no registration deadline, so families confirm timing for their child's year group with the Admissions team.

A registration fee and an acceptance deposit are listed on the senior school fees page, and the deposit is due by an agreed deadline once an offer is made.

• Visit the school, meet the Headmaster or Headteacher and key staff, or request a virtual introduction
• Attend a taster day
• Complete the Registration Form through the Register online enquiry form
• Sit the school's assessments; the school requests a reference, and at 13+ and 16+ the child is interviewed
• Receive an offer based on the assessment results
• Return the acceptance form and pay the acceptance deposit by the agreed deadline
• Receive Parent Portal access and information on uniform, school transport and fee payment

Interviews and references

Interviews are part of the process at 13+ and at 16+, where the child is invited to meet the school after sitting the assessments. The Prep pages for 7+ and 11+ describe no interview.

A reference is requested from the child's current school at 11+, 13+ and 16+. At 7+ and 4+ the school asks for one from the current setting or school if applicable.

The Somerset Scholarship for Sixth Form also includes an interview, alongside the school's own scholarship paper and a verbal reasoning test.

Scholarships and bursaries

Scholarships are offered at 11+, 13+ and 16+, and award forms are issued after the Registration Form is completed. At 11+ the subjects are academic, drama, music and sport, with academic, music and performing arts testing held separately from sport testing in the autumn term. An award is retained on entry to the senior school subject to annual review, and holders must enter the relevant scholarship tests at 13+.

At 13+ the scholarships cover academic, music, sport, art, drama and performing arts (including technical theatre) and design technology, tested across the autumn and spring terms. At 16+ the range is the same, in a first round in the autumn term and a second round in the spring term.

The Somerset Scholarship gives one local day pupil a fully funded Sixth Form place, with candidates found through local state-funded schools. The Across the Acres Award offers fee remission to external pupils in Years 3 and 4, assessed on mathematics, writing and verbal reasoning, a practical problem-solving task and a sports assessment, with an optional prepared music or performing arts piece.

Means-tested bursaries are open to talented pupils who might not otherwise be able to join. Families complete a confidential financial circumstances form online, and the assessment considers net assets, ability to release capital, sibling costs and contributions from both parents or other relatives. The pages give no maximum share of fees, and awards are subject to budget and reassessed annually.

Fees and what they include

Fees are set per term, quoted including VAT, and published on the school's fees page with separate lists for the Prep, the senior school and international pupils. The senior school day fee covers stationery, most textbooks and one overnight stay a week, and a Day Lite fee ends the school day at 6pm without breakfast, supper or the overnight stay.

UK full and weekly boarding fees add breakfast, supper and laundry (not dry cleaning), with weekly boarders covered for five nights. Lunch and IT are compulsory extras for Prep and senior school pupils, and parental approval is sought for any additional charge above a stated limit.

Termly fees are due in advance, and a monthly direct debit scheme is available through School Fee Plan. Where more than one child attends at the same time, younger siblings receive a discount of 5% for the second child, 10% for the third and 15% for the fourth and any further children.

Where pupils join from

The school's own junior school is King's College Prep, which runs from the Pre-Prep at age 4 up to Year 8, and the vast majority of its pupils move to the senior school at Year 9. The Prep page describes no guaranteed place and no separate transfer assessment.

Prep leavers can also apply elsewhere, and the school names Eton, Harrow and Radley among destinations. No external feeder or partner schools are listed for entry into King's.

The admissions pages state that the school serves families in Somerset, Devon and Bristol and runs school transport with several routes and stops. No catchment rule applies to entry.

Sixth form entry at 16+

Entry to the Lower Sixth depends on achieving the appropriate GCSE results, though the pages do not publish the grades or subject-specific requirements. Applicants meet the Headmaster and Head of Sixth Form on a visit, complete the Registration Form, sit the school's assessments, attend an interview and may attend a taster day.

The school requests a reference from the current school, and an offer is secured with an acceptance form and deposit. Scholarship candidates at 16+ are tested in two rounds, and Somerset Scholarship candidates sit a scholarship paper and a verbal reasoning test.

How to prepare

Preparation is best tied to the stages the school names: the taster day, the assessments, the interview and the reference. Because the subjects and papers for general entry are not published, it helps to ask the Admissions team at registration which areas the assessments cover, and to keep schoolwork in English and mathematics steady in the meantime.

For the interview at 13+ and 16+, a child benefits from talking about interests, current school life and reasons for choosing a boarding or day place, in a relaxed conversation. For scholarships, the published formats point to specific practice: verbal reasoning for the Somerset Scholarship, mathematics, writing and verbal reasoning for the Across the Acres Award, and a prepared piece for music or performing arts.

Related guides

• Best private schools in Somerset
• Independent school fees compared
• Millfield School (11+)
• Wellington School (11+)
• Wells Cathedral School (11+)
• Taunton School (13+)
• The ISEB Common Pre-Test explained
• 13+ Common Entrance explained
• The 11+ entrance exam explained
• The 7+ entrance exam explained
• 11+ and 13+ scholarship exams explained
• What is a bursary? Private school bursaries explained
• Boarding schools in the UK

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