King's College (Taunton) A GSG School
- King's College (Taunton)
South Road
Taunton
Somerset
TA1 3LA - Head: Michael Sloan
- T 01823 328204
- F 01823 328202
- E admissions@kings-taunton.co.uk
- W www.kings-taunton.co.uk
- An independent school for boys and girls aged from 13 to 18.
- Boarding: Yes
- Local authority: Somerset
- Pupils: 470; sixth formers: 190
- Religion: Church of England
- Fees: Day £27,480; Boarding £41,355 pa
- Open days: First Saturday in October
- Review: View The Good Schools Guide Review
- Ofsted report: View the Ofsted report
- ISI report: View the ISI report
- Linked schools: King's College Prep School
What The Good Schools Guide says..
This school is flying, brimming with enthusiasm and passion for learning, smashing it on the sports field and bounding with extracurricular opportunities. It has gradually – and with ‘a deliberate strategy’ – lifted its academic game. While still standing by its inclusivity banner and celebrating the not (overly) selective image that it fosters, it is quietly...
What the school says...
King's College, Taunton is a leading co-educational independent boarding and day school that comprises King’s Prep for children from nursery to Year 8 and King’s College senior school from Year 9 to Sixth Form. The schools are situated on separate sites in the heart of the west country, just two-hours from London.
King's College offers a holistic education, strong on values of scholarship and community, together with all-round, world class provision in sport and the arts.
The school has a strong boarding ethos, creating a home from home environment for pupils. Weekends are busy and purposeful, with lessons and sport on Saturdays, and activities and trips often taking place on Sundays. Boarders and day pupils live and study side-by-side. Friendships developed are often extraordinarily long-lived. Boarders come from far and wide. Many are local. A few live closer to the school than some of their day pupil friends. Others come from the south west of England; others from further afield in the UK and some from overseas. This makes for a varied and vibrant community within the houses.
The school occupies a secluded and beautiful site of over 80 acres on the south side of Taunton, just a few minutes from the town centre. The main building is an outstanding example of nineteenth-century architecture, and the School Chapel is a striking blend of ancient and modern. The Sixth Form Centre to the north of the Chapel is anchored in sustainable energy principles, flooded with natural light and echo the environments of higher education institutions. The school also benefits from extensive sports pitches and facilities that include an indoor cricket school with PitchVision technology, a tennis and netball dome, indoor 25m swimming pool, indoor climbing wall, squash courts and a strength and conditioning suite. The modern library and business suite caters of pupils of all ages and the 240-seater theatre sees performances, lectures and all manner of events in between, take place on a regular basis.
The school's achievements include BBC Song's of Praise School Choir of the Year; Wisden's most successful school cricket team in 2009 and runners up in 2010; Jos Buttler presently playing cricket for England; U16 girls' Hockey County Champions; Olympic gold medalist Maddie Hinch is a former pupil; winners of the Good Schools Guide best A level DT department award and four Arkwright Scholarships in the past four years, including the Royce Award; winners of the coveted Sir Steuart Pringle Marine Cadet Trophy in 2009, 2010 and 2011, runners up in 2015 and winners again in 2016 and 2022. ...Read more
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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.
UK Independent Schools’ Entry Test
Sports
Polo
Equestrian centre or equestrian team - school has own equestrian centre or an equestrian team.
Fencing
Shooting
Sailing
What The Good Schools Guide says
Headmaster
Since 2022, Michael Sloan, previously deputy head at Brighton College, where he rose through the ranks from assistant head (head of middle school). Grew up in Northern Ireland and attended the Methodist College in Belfast before reading ancient history and politics at Newcastle. After commissioning from the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, he served as an officer in the Rifles for six years, during which time he was deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo. No stranger to the south-west, he gained a PGCE from Bristol before starting his career as a history teacher at Emanuel School in Wandsworth, where he was also a head of year.
Married to Hannah with three young sons at the school. He is a keen sportsman, having played rugby and football to a good level, an avid...
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Overall school performance (for comparison or review only)
Results by exam and subject
Subject results
Entry/Exit
Special Education Needs
Who came from where
| School | Year | Places | Scholarships | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Durston House School | 2023 | 1 | 1 | Academic Scholarship |
| Hazlegrove School | 2023 | 2 | ||
| Hurlingham School | 2023 | 1 | ||
| King's College Prep School | 2023 | 85% to the senior school | ||
| Perrott Hill School | 2023 | 1 | ||
| Sandroyd School | 2023 | 2 | ||
| Sherborne Preparatory School | 2023 | 4 | 5 | Drama Scholarship; Music Scholarships (2); Sports Scholarship; Academic Scholarship |
| St Peter's Preparatory School | 2023 | 2 |
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