Ages 
A busy happy school for active youngsters willing to throw themselves into all the school has to offer. Fine academics come as a result of fine teaching, fine tuning and exceptional pastoral care. Wesley would be proud.
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Overview & data
- Pupil numbers
- 900 ·
- Sixth form numbers
- 278 ·
- Offers boarding
- Yes ·
- Religion
- Methodist
- Fees
- Day £24,417; Boarding £36,741 - £50,376 pa
- Linked schools
Headteacher
Headmaster
Andrew Gordon-Brown
Since 2020, Andrew Gordon-Brown MSc, formerly head of Truro School. A ‘warm and visionary South African’ as our previous review described him, he studied commerce at the University of Cape Town and qualified as a chartered accountant with Deloitte
Entrance
Main entry point is at year 7, where about half the 110 places are filled by children coming up from the prep school, the rest from local prep and primaries in Bath and beyond. Transition from the prep school is expected – parents of any child
- Open days
- Year 7 Open Day: June; Senior School Open Day: September; Sixth Form Information Event: October. Please visit the website to register your interest for our events and tours.
Exit
Tiny numbers leave to join new schools at year 9 and around 15 leave after GCSE, more than replaced by incoming replacements. Sixth form leavers mostly head off to university, three quarters to Russell group. Favourites include Exeter and Birmingham,
Latest results
In 2025, 78 per cent 9-7 at GCSE; 50 per cent A*/A at A level (78 per cent A*-B).
A level - Average points score (2024)
What is this?
These figures tell you the average grade and average points that pupils achieved in their academic qualifications. A maximum of 60 points are available for a grade A* at A level.
Teaching & learning
Those notable results – GCSE results outdoing Bath academic powerhouse King Edward’s - come from high value-added scores for which the school has been recognised, and the ‘tailored academic intervention by subject and by student’, the deputy head
- Qualifications taken in 2024
- A level
- BTEC
- EPQ
- GCSE
Sixth form
The requirement for the 35 available places is at least six GCSEs (four at grade 6 and two at grade 5) and specific subject requirements eg 7s for sciences and 6s for languages and humanities for the 21 available A levels, plus a BTEC in sport; plans
Learning support & SEN
Study support, as it’s known here, is now concentrated in a delightful suite of rooms next to Westwood, the junior house at the top of the site. School can accommodate mild SpLD, processing speed and working memory being the most common ones. The
Arts & extracurricular
Art is housed in a handsome arts and crafts building which has undergone a recent revamp and whose three floors are dedicated to different disciplines such as painting, ceramics, textiles, photography and print-making; sixth formers have their own
Sport
Hardly a student not in sports kit when we visited on a normal Tuesday: make no mistake, this is a very sporty school, so possibly not one for the uncoordinated sports phobe. ‘Oh but there’s lots on offer for everyone!’ school protests, but certainly
Boarders
Just under a quarter of students board in some way – the majority full time, but a sprinkling of weekly and flexi. Junior boarders are all housed in Beaconfield, girls and boys on separate floors, with Westwood the specially appointed house for years
Ethos & heritage
Inextricably linked. The only school founded by John Wesley, who exhorted his Methodist flock to ‘do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can’. Set up in 1748 in the
Pastoral care, inclusivity & discipline
Pastoral care could not be more highly praised by parents and (less effusively) by students – clearly the ‘culture of knowing and caring for our children really is hard-wired', as the head put it, and the reason so many choose the school and its soft
Mobile phone policy
A clear mobile phone policy is a really important part of modern schooling. This school has provided us with their policy.
Mobile phone policy
Provided by the school and not part of our review For years 7-11, Kingswood School is a phone-free school during the working day (8.25am - 4.30pm for years 9-11and until 5.20pm for years 7 and 8). Pupils bringing a mobile phone or smart watch must store these items in a Yondr pouch every day. This pouch is purchased by parents. Sixth formers may use their phones in the Dixon sixth form building and in lessons if required by teachers, but may not use their phones around school or in common areas outside of the Dixon sixth form building.
Pupils & parents
As varied as this kind of school gets, with an enriching quota of overseas students, 15 per cent or so; several staff were away on a recruiting trip to Kenya and Thailand at the time of our visit. Full boarding offer means it’s a good option for
Money matters
Two income families are the norm unsurprisingly, but fees are at the more reasonable end of the scale, even with the imposition of VAT in 2025. Discounts for siblings (boarders only) and forces or diplomatic families in receipt of CEA. Scholarships
- Fee information
- Day £24,417; Boarding £36,741 - £50,376 pa
The last word
A busy happy school for active youngsters willing to throw themselves into all the school has to offer. Fine academics come as a result of fine teaching, fine tuning and exceptional pastoral care. Wesley would be proud.
