The King's School Canterbury 11+, 13+ and 16+ Admissions: Exams, Scholarships and Fees

The King's School Canterbury admissions process centres on 13+ entry to Year 9, where about 150 pupils join each year by one of two routes: prep school pupils sit the online ISEB Pre-Test in the autumn term of Year 6, and non-prep and international candidates sit the school's own King's Entrance Exams. Further entry points exist at 11+ and 7+ through Junior King's, at 14+ into Year 10 and at 16+ into Year 12.

Each route ends in an offer that a family confirms by paying an acceptance deposit, and the pages below set out the format, the sequence of steps and the scholarship and bursary options so that preparation can be matched to the route your child will take.

Entry points and places

Pupils can join at 7+ or later into Junior King's, at 11+ into Year 7, at 13+ into Year 9, at 14+ into Year 10 and at 16+ into Year 12. Year 9 is the largest entry point, with about 150 places each year, while Year 10 has a number of places without a published figure.

The sixth form figure is published inconsistently, as approximately 70 pupils in one place and 50 to 60 in another. Junior King's accepts children at any point from Year 3, usually in September, and Year 8 entry may be possible depending on places.

• Year 3 onwards: Junior King's, Assessment/Taster Day
• Year 7 (11+): entrance exam, with a through place to the senior school
• Year 9 (13+): ISEB Pre-Test or King's Entrance Exams
• Year 10 (14+): King's Entrance Exams
• Year 12 (16+): competitive entrance examination

How the 13+ assessment works

The 13+ assessment depends on whether a child comes from a prep school, because prep school candidates sit the ISEB Pre-Test in the autumn term of Year 6 and everyone else sits the King's Entrance Exams (KEE). Pre-Test results lead to an invitation to an Experience Day in the spring term of Year 6.

For non-prep and international candidates, the KEE day for UK applicants begins with arrival in the Pupils' Social Centre and a welcome from senior staff. It continues with a block of online examinations lasting one hour and fifty minutes, then a Mathematics paper of forty minutes and an English paper of forty minutes after lunch. Interviews close the day.

• Calculators are allowed for the Mathematics paper only
• Dictionaries are not permitted; scrap paper is allowed
• Candidates bring a passport for verification and basic stationery
• Overseas candidates sit under exam conditions at a British Council office, an approved agency or their current school

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Registration and the admissions timeline

Registration comes after a visit and before any assessment, and the registration form carries a fee that is waived for Old King's Scholars on the prep school route. The deadline for non-prep Year 9 and Year 10 entry falls in the August before the year of joining, and the sixth form deadline falls in early October of the year before joining.

No registration deadline is published for the prep school route, which the school says can be completed at any age. Registrations for Year 10 stay confidential until a reference is needed from the current school.

• Visit: a tour with a current pupil and a meeting with the Director of Admissions or senior staff, at Saturday open days in September and May
• Register: complete the registration form and pay the fee
• Assess: ISEB Pre-Test and Experience Day, or King's Entrance Exams
• Offer: prep school offers follow the Pre-Test, the school reference and the Experience Day; KEE offers follow the results, interview and confidential report
• Accept: a deposit paid after the offer confirms the place
• Taster Day: held in the spring of Year 8 after acceptance on the prep school route

Interviews and references

Interviews and references form part of the offer decision at King's, though the weight differs by route. Prep school candidates are considered on their Pre-Test performance, a formal reference from the current school and how they did at the Experience Day.

Candidates on the KEE route are interviewed on the day for UK applicants, after the papers, and successful overseas candidates are interviewed online. Offers there follow a review of the KEE results, the interview and a confidential report from the current school. The school looks for pupils with a broad range of interests and says a high level of ability in sport, music or the arts may be taken into account.

Scholarships and bursaries

Scholarships are awarded at 13+ and 16+, with seven categories at 13+: academic, music, art, sport, design and technology, drama and dance. Academic candidates sit General Paper, English, a modern language with discussion, Maths and Science with a practical assessment, plus three optional papers and an informal interview, and music auditions take place in Canterbury in the January before entry.

At 16+ the school offers academic, music, art and sport scholarships, with academic awards following the sixth form entrance examination in the autumn. Junior King's offers two academic scholarships and two exhibitions at 11+.

Means-tested bursaries can reach 100% of full boarding fees, depending on circumstances, and are assessed through a Statement of Financial Circumstances. Families tick the bursary box when registering, and the bursary deadline falls in the autumn of the year before entry.

Fees and what they include

Fees are published annually by year group, for day and boarding pupils, on the school's fees page, with higher day fees for Years 10 to 13 than for Year 9. The page lists amounts both including and excluding VAT and does not itemise extras or per-term amounts.

Sibling discounts apply for third and fourth children, and fees are reviewed annually. Overseas parents pay an additional deposit of one term's fees, which is credited against final fees when the pupil leaves. The bursar's office handles questions on the full fee schedules.

Where pupils join from

Most pupils joining in Year 9 arrive from prep schools, and Junior King's is the school's own junior school for ages 3 to 13. Pupils leaving at the end of Year 6 can receive a through place after a strong assessment and a positive reference, covering Years 7 and 8 at Junior King's before the move up in Year 9.

Most Junior King's pupils go on to the senior school, though admission is not automatic and there is no sibling preference. Historical or sibling connections are considered when allocating Houses. The school does not name other feeder schools on the pages read.

How 16+ entry works

Entry into the sixth form is by competitive entrance examination, taken as the King's Entrance Exams in the autumn before joining. Offers follow the exam result, an interview and a confidential report from the current school, and a few places may remain for later consideration though this cannot be guaranteed.

The sixth form entrance examination in the autumn is also the basis for academic scholarships, and music candidates usually have a pre-audition with the Director of Music in Year 10. Everyone entering the sixth form takes part in an induction course.

How to prepare

Preparation follows the route: prep school candidates benefit from practice with the four online, adaptive, multiple-choice ISEB Pre-Test components of English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning, which are usually sat at the current school in the autumn term of Year 6. The school suggests parents of prep school children begin the application about three years before entry.

For the KEE route, the school states that no specific preparation is required, and candidates usually benefit from familiarity with timed spatial, verbal and numerical online tests and short Maths and English papers of forty minutes each. Practising comprehension and creative writing, plus an unhurried conversation about interests ahead of the interview, tends to help candidates feel settled on the day. Parents are advised to start at least a year before entry.

Related guides

• Best private schools in Kent
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• Sevenoaks School (11+)
• Ashford School (11+)
• Sutton Valence School (11+)
• Tonbridge 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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