Skip to main content
The Kings School in Macclesfield

Read the review »

What is included in the The King's School in Macclesfield review?

Academic results & facilities

Pastoral care and inclusivity

Fees, scholarships & bursary information

Information about the head

Teaching and learning approaches

Entrance & admissions information

Exit information - where do the children go next?

Learning support & SEN information

Arts, sports and extracurricular

Pupils & parents (what are they really like?)

Read the review »

What says..

In 2020 the boys, girls and junior schools moved from the centre of Macclesfield to the new 80 acre campus on the edge of the town. The facilities here are superb, all purpose-built and particularly inspirational for those wishing to develop their sporting skills to the highest level. King’s has some spectacular space for the arts. The extracurricular offer is enormous and a major attraction. We felt the school may not quite yet have learned to occupy its new space comfortably, we spotted several...   Read more
  • The King's School in Macclesfield
    Alderley Road
    Prestbury
    Macclesfield
    Cheshire
    SK10 4SP
  • Head: Mr Jason Slack
  • T 01625 260000
  • F 01625 260022
  • E [email protected]
  • W www.kingsmac.co.uk/
  • The King's School in Macclesfield is an independent school for boys and girls aged from 3 to 18 that does not offer boarding. The King's School in Macclesfield fees are £10,041 - £15,945 pa. Want to know more? Read our unbiased review on The King's School in Macclesfield here.
  • Boarding: No
  • Local authority: Cheshire East
  • Pupils: 898; sixth formers: 183
  • Religion: Church of England
  • Fees: £18,336 pa (last updated on 21/01/2025)
  • Open days: See website
  • Review: View The Good Schools Guide Review
  • Linked schools: King’s Infants and Juniors (Macclesfield)

What the school says...

The Kings School in Macclesfield offers great academic results and superb extra-curricular opportunities. From the ages of 3 to 18, Kings offers every child a unique curriculum designed to develop independent learners, inquisitive minds and well-rounded individuals with the skills and attributes to succeed long after they leave school.

Our results are outstanding. Add the string of international sportsmen and women King's regularly produces, the eclectic range of musicians, artists and inventors, the 100 clubs and societies King's provides for all ages and the fact that our explorers have the opportunity to venture right across the globe - now you don't just have a school, you have the start of an amazing life long journey. ...Read more

Do you know this school?

The schools we choose, and what we say about them, are founded on parents’ views. If you know this school, please share your views with us.

Please login to post a comment.

Other features

All-through school (for example 3-18 years). - An all-through school covers junior and senior education. It may start at 3 or 4, or later, and continue through to 16 or 18. Some all-through schools set exams at 11 or 13 that pupils must pass to move on.

Choir school - substantial scholarships and bursaries usually available for choristers.

Sports

Equestrian centre or equestrian team - school has own equestrian centre or an equestrian team.

Shooting

Sailing

What The Good Schools Guide says

Headmaster

Since 2020, Jason Slack, BSc PGCE. A Yorkshireman with degree in physics from Durham University which was sponsored by an accountancy firm and led him to a first career in accountancy. He then returned to Durham to complete his PGCE. His first teaching post was at King Henry VIII School Coventry (physics and coaching rugby), head of science at The Grange, Cheshire then deputy head at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Wakefield. He returned to King Henry’s as head in 2010 before being lured to King’s in 2020 to oversee the challenge of merging the boys', girls' and junior schools onto a new site, no mean feat in the middle of the pandemic. He says, ‘This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to start with a blank piece of paper.’ In fact the restrictions of teaching in bubbles was something of a soft landing for the new school, creating a diversion from the introduction of co-education. The new school may only be recently co-ed, but we felt that it was fully integrated and there don’t seem to be unresolved issues from the merger. The head certainly seems to be leading a happy and cohesive school which is re-establishing itself academically after a dip in attainment before the move.

Mr Slack is clear that (unlike several of its competitors) King’s is not an academic hothouse, ‘We want to be noticeably and definitely different from the uber competitive selective schools.’ The new campus and exceptional sports facilities are creating demand for places which is naturally raising the bar in terms of entry requirements and outcomes are on the up. The head says, ‘We want to create an environment where pupils can feel that they belong and are confident to be themselves. We achieve this by employing good staff who also feel that sense of belonging.’ Staff and students we spoke to certainly reflected back to us this warm sense of a cohesive family working together. ‘Outward bound is huge for us, 90 per cent of pupils are involved in at least one club a week. They come with a mindset to get involved and we work hard to develop their resilience.’ He was also keen to tell us that the school was going through a sporting purple patch, ‘We are county champions in so many sports including cricket, hockey, netball, athletics as well as national champions in trampolining, rugby and cricket in (2023).’ Banners hanging at the front of school proudly attest to this success.

Mr Slack still teaches and has had one daughter through the sixth form at King’s. When not busy leading the school he plays violin to concert standard, runs and goes to the gym, as well as being an avid Leeds United supporter.

Entrance

Selective (and increasingly so) at all points of entry. At 11+ all pupils (from both the junior school and externals) sit the school’s own entrance tests in English, maths, verbal and non-verbal reasoning. References from previous schools are taken up and there is an interview with a member of the senior leadership team. With three applicants to every place there is keen competition to get in. All 75 junior school pupils gained places in 2023 and there is a growing number of applicants for places in the juniors to ensure progression to the senior school. The ability profile of pupils on entry has risen considerably since the merger onto the new site.

For sixth form entry pupils must get an average of grade six or higher in eight subjects with a minimum of a five in maths and English language. Most subjects to be studied at A level ask for at least grade seven.

Exit

In 2023, 60 per cent of year 11 moved into the sixth form. This was an unusually low number, usually it is more like 70 per cent. The majority of those who leave go to college or to a state sixth form, smaller numbers to boarding school or apprenticeship schemes. Nearly all who stay on for the sixth form progress to university. In 2024, one to Oxbridge.

Latest results

In 2024, 59 per cent 9-7 at GCSE; 49 per cent A*/A at A level (81 per cent A*-B).

Teaching and learning

Language teaching builds on the impressive languages curriculum in the junior school. In the first term of year 7 pupils take short courses in French, German and Spanish, choosing two with which to continue through to year 9; after this they must take one language at GCSE. French, German and Spanish continue through to A level each with teaching groups of between five and ten, impressive given the relative decline in the study of languages. Combined science is taught in years 7 and 8, separate science from year 9. Maths is set from the autumn term of year 7 and English from year 8 onwards. All of year 9 are taught critical thinking including problem solving and analysis, in preparation for GCSE.

At GCSE there is a guided choice between triple science or dual award with about half the year group doing each of these. Science labs are impressive, spacious, well designed and modern. Design technology is taught throughout the school and textiles is part of the art curriculum. We saw year 11 busily completing their storage projects for GCSE design technology. Pupils take nine or ten subjects depending on their science choices, the more able also take further maths. English, French, geography, German, history, maths and Spanish are offered as IGCSEs.

We saw some interesting lessons with attentive, well behaved pupils, including a year 8 lesson on the Miller’s Tale where the pupils demonstrated sound knowledge. All speak very highly of the teaching, sixth formers particularly praised the one-to-one support and younger pupils told us, ‘King’s is really good at helping us to learn.’

The learning spaces at King’s are, bright, modern, airy and spacious. There’s plenty of room to learn, to move around and to socialise. The library is at the heart of the school with a sixth form mezzanine for private study, its own garden area and home to a well-equipped careers office. The extensive outdoor space includes a brook running through a little valley where the King’s Compass lessons take place in woodland and wetland areas. This is a programme of outdoor and adventurous learning for pupils from reception through to year 8 and is tied to key areas of the national curriculum. It aims to develop resilience, communication, selection, collaboration, respect and personal growth.

Learning support and SEN

We were impressed by the level of SEN provision. The SENCO has a track record of success working across the primary and secondary sectors in state schools and for the LA. She works with an assistant SENCO, who takes the lead in the junior school, and 13 learning support assistants. The team is kept very busy with 300 pupils (around 23 per cent) on the SEN register including seven with EHCPs (some funded by local authorities, others by parents). This is a relatively high number, in part because they screen all pupils in year 7 and probably pick up on learning issues that might be missed elsewhere. They cover principally dyslexia, autism and ADHD and all staff receive training on quality first teaching strategies to ensure that all pupils' needs are met. The building and site would be completely accessible for any student with mobility issues and staff are keen to emphasise that the co-curricular programme is completely inclusive, ‘Anybody can come here so we have wheelchair users on the ski trip and on DofE.’ Parents could not praise SEN highly enough, ‘From the moment he went to King’s for the assessment day he felt so at home and so do we, he feels seen and understood.’

The arts and extracurricular

Two enormous well-lit art rooms with an attached gallery space sit within the vast upper corridor. There is ample space to display pupils’ work so we were disappointed that there wasn’t more to see and that the presentation of work was untidy and lacked cohesion. A bit of a missed opportunity we felt.

Music has a lovely recital hall complete with organ as well as nice teaching spaces and a suite of practice rooms. Plenty of musical activities from string orchestra, choirs, woodwind and brass groups to changing voices for both boys and girls, keyboard club and percussion ensemble. Only around 20 per cent across the junior and senior school take instrumental lessons. The school was keen to tell us that this was an unusually low number as so many pupils had dropped lessons over the pandemic. However we haven’t seen this pattern elsewhere and other schools in the area have much higher levels of participation. Music always runs at A level, however low the numbers. There is a super drama studio and the assembly hall is enormous, with raked seating and set up for the year 6 production of Oliver! when we visited. All pupils take drama in years 7 and 8 and it's optional from year 9 onwards. Drama is offered at GCSE, and AS level in theatre studies can be taken alongside three other A levels. Dance is not offered at GCSE or A level but is an extracurricular activity.

The extracurricular offer here is significant and a major attraction. There are year group camps in years 7 to 9 including to Snowdonia and preparing for DofE where the school boasted an impressive 124 bronze, 56 silver and 16 gold awards in 2023. More than 50 sporting clubs and practices a week with clubs and societies ranging from Arabic to psychology pod squad, Japanese club retro gaming and well-being walks. Plenty of trips overseas including skiing in France and canoeing in Croatia. The staff love working here, not least they told us, ‘Because of the variety of what I can do, not just the teaching, we have the time to do that well but aren’t overwhelmed so we can give our all to other activities.’

Sport

Sport is where King’s really comes alive. The facilities here are very good indeed, all purpose built, brand new and obviously inspirational for those wishing to develop their skills to the highest level. The sports centre is home to a 25m pool where the juniors were enthusiastically playing water polo when we visited. Sixth formers can earn some money working as life guards. Pupils raved about the indoor bowling facility which is used for training by Cheshire County Cricket Club. Trampolining is big, boys and girls having recently come second in the national finals. One girl told us proudly that the sports hall has been built higher than normal to accommodate the needs of competitive trampolining. King’s came third in the national cheer leading finals and the team captain coaches the year 7 team. Indoor facilities include a multi gym, large dance hall and a sixth form cafe. There are rugby, cricket, hockey, tennis, athletics and rounders facilities as far as the eye can see, many all weather and floodlit.

Ethos and heritage

King’s was founded in 1502 under the will of Sir John Percyvale and then re-founded in 1552 as ‘the free grammar school of King Edward VI’. Originally a boys’ boarding school, in 1992 the old Macclesfield Girls’ High School site was purchased to create a girls’ division. In 2020 the boys, girls and junior schools all moved from the centre of Macclesfield to the new 80-acre campus on the edge of the town. Facilities are undoubtedly superb. Architecturally commanding with huge central corridors and sweeping staircases, its a bespoke modern learning environment but with several artefacts from the predecessor sites included to tie the school to its history. We felt the school may not quite yet have learned to occupy its new space comfortably, we spotted several scruffy corners (especially around the pastoral centre) and more litter than we are used to seeing.

Illustrious alumni from both predecessor schools include medical scientist Professor Sir Stephen Holgate, musician and song-writer Emily Roberts, entrepreneur Carrie Green, sports journalist Oliver Holt, CEO of Ocado Hannah Gibson and lead singer of Joy Division Ian Curtis.

Pastoral care, inclusivity and discipline

Pastoral care is based on form tutors and heads of year. There are non-teaching pupil managers which is usually a good sign that a school is serious about pupil well-being and not simply leaving it to hard pressed teaching staff. In addition the school has two counsellors, a nurse and 20 staff trained in mental health first aid. A parent told us that, ‘Pastoral care is the stand out, they focus on mental and emotional well-being and run parent workshops on neuro-diversity. They are really on it as far mental health goes.’ Another praised the way staff ‘keep a close eye on your child without the child knowing’. ‘They come back instantly if you have a question.’

Pupils spoke highly of the kind and inclusive atmosphere at King’s, some having chosen it, ‘because you aren’t set to compete against your friends which seemed to happen at a couple of the schools I looked at’. They told us, ‘There is zero tolerance of bullying, we just need to speak to a teacher and something will happen.’ Everyone we spoke to felt that identity issues were not a big issue, with provision of gender neutral toilets and changing areas and an active LGBTQ plus society the school lives up to its mantra of inclusion for all. Pupils told us, ‘There are clinics for everything to help if we are struggling.’ Several mentioned the challenge and enrichment system, designed to stretch them and which leads to awards, although not all those we spoke to seemed to know that these were available or how to achieve them.

Pupils and parents

Pupils were warm, friendly and communicated well with no signs of arrogance or entitlement. They showed genuine enthusiasm for the school and in particular its tremendous sporting opportunities. Parents are a mixed demographic, some are the wealthy and aspirational who might not have felt the predecessor schools would meet their expectations but see the new campus in a different light, but plenty too who are making sacrifices to afford the fees.

Money matters

Means-tested bursaries are available for pupils joining in years 7 and 12. Bursary pupils need to achieve highly in the entrance test or at GCSE. There are also music and academic scholarships available which can sit alongside bursaries.

The last word

We were seriously impressed both by the King’s campus and the excellent range of opportunities on offer. Pastoral care and support for SEN sang out too, as did the bright, enthusiastic pupils and very committed staff. With ever improving outcomes and a great all round offer this school is well worth consideration.

Please note: Independent schools frequently offer IGCSEs or other qualifications alongside or as an alternative to GCSE. The DfE does not record performance data for these exams so independent school GCSE data is frequently misleading; parents should check the results with the schools.

Who came from where

Who goes where

Special Education Needs

Condition Provision for in school
ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
Might cover/be referred to as;
ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Aspergers, Autism, High functioning autism, Neurodivergent, Neurodiversity, Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), PDA , Social skills, Sensory processing disorder
Y
HI - Hearing Impairment
Might cover/be referred to as;
Hearing Impairment, HI - Hearing Impairment
MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
Might cover/be referred to as;
Learning needs, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment
Might cover/be referred to as;
MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment, Sensory processing
OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability
Might cover/be referred to as;
Downs Syndrome, Epilepsy, Genetic , OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability, Tics, Tourettes
PD - Physical Disability
Might cover/be referred to as;
PD - Physical Disability
PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
Might cover/be referred to as;
Complex needs, Global delay, Global developmental delay, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health
Might cover/be referred to as;
Anxiety , Complex needs, Emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA), Mental Health, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health, Trauma
SLCN - Speech, Language and Communication
Might cover/be referred to as;
DLD - Developmental Language Disorder, Selective mutism, SLCN - Speech, Language and Communication
SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty
Might cover/be referred to as;
Complex needs, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, Cerebral Palsy (CP)
SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty
Might cover/be referred to as;
ADHD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Auditory Processing, DCD, Developmental Co-ordination Difficulties (DCD), Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Handwriting, Other specific learning difficulty, SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
Y
VI - Visual Impairment
Might cover/be referred to as;
Special facilities for Visually Impaired, VI - Visual Impairment

Who came from where


Subscribe for instant access to in-depth reviews:

☑ 30,000 Independent, state and special schools in our parent-friendly interactive directory
☑ Instant access to in-depth UK school reviews
☑ Honest, opinionated and fearless independent reviews of over 1,000 schools
☑ Independent tutor company reviews

Try before you buy - The Charter School Southwark

Buy Now

GSG Blog >

The Good Schools Guide newsletter

Educational insight in your inbox. Sign up for our popular newsletters.