The King's School, Chester, is a co-educational private

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children are given instruction during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compared to a regular s ...

for pupils aged 4 to 18. It is one of the seven 'King's Schools' established (or re-endowed and renamed) by King Henry VIII in 1541 after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. It is situated outside the city of

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

, England. The school is a member of the

Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC), formerly known as the Headmasters' Conference and now branded HMC (The Heads' Conference), is an association of the head teachers of 351 private fee-charging schools (both boarding schools ...

. The school comprises an Infant school (years 4–7), a Junior school (years 7–11), a Senior school (years 11–16) and a Sixth form (years 16–18) in which the students choose their A-level subjects.

History

An ancient foundation, attached to a monastery that King Henry VIII had dissolved, it still served a purpose teaching grammar to potential ordinands. It was reconstituted in 1541 as a joint church state enterprise and operated for 400 years in the former monks' refectory. The statutes that constituted the school also specified the training and education of choristers for Chester Cathedral, an arrangement that ran in parallel for hundreds of years. It was one of seven schools in this category, the others being Canterbury, Rochester, Peterborough, Worcester, Gloucester, and Ely. In 1869 new school buildings were constructed and they were formally opened by Gladstone. The school motto is "''Rex dedit, benedicat Deus''” (The King gave it, may God bless it'')'', which was given by John Saul Howson, Dean of Chester. John Saul Howson was the chief instrument in the building and endowing of the King's School, and in its reorganization on a broader basis.

Description

Since 1960, The King's School has been based at its Wrexham Road site on the outskirts of Chester. It has a Sixth Form Centre, a library (the Wickson Library) and a music school (the Tim Turvey Music School). Sports facilities include a swimming pool, all-weather sports pitches, grass sports pitches, a cricket pavilion, and a boat house on the River Dee.

Academia

In September 2011, King's adopted a new curriculum alongside its shift from an eight-period to a five-period day. This involved substantial changes, introducing 'enrichment' lessons and replacing the GCSE courses with IGCSE.

Extra-curricular activities

The school's pupils engage the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme. The King's School's Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is a voluntary contingent within the CCF. It consists of the mandatory Army Section, with an additional RAF Section. The King's School has also been successful in the F1 in Schools competition, sending a team to the global finals in 2016.

Publications

The Herald is the school's magazine and is published on a termly basis for parents and pupils. Its articles are about current pupils, teachers and former pupils.

Sports

Hockey

In 2011, King's appointed hockey coach Simon Egerton, who is a member of the England hockey team.

Rowing

The King's School Rowing Club has been in existence since 1883 with the school's boat house situated on the River Dee in the centre of

and is affiliated to British Rowing. Rowing is offered as part of the sports curriculum from the third year onwards. The King's rowers often compete in the top levels of school's competitions, and count numerous ex-Boat-Race crew members alongside National and Olympic squad members amongst it Old King's Scholars Alumni including seven Olympians, three in the London 2012 games. Gold and silver medallists – two gold and one silver Olympic medallists. Olympic Finalists – three in 2012. 14 x Oxford and Cambridge Blues. 47 x GB Senior World Championship representatives – since 1960 and 36 x GB Junior International representatives – since 1970. Kings Chester Boat House

Headmaster

The school's headmaster (since 2017) is George Hartley. He has an undergraduate degree in geography and an postgraduate degree in Environmental Sciences. He has previously been the headmaster/principal of two other British schools.

Previous headmasters

*2007–2017 - Chris Ramsey, linguist *2000–2007 - Tim Turvey, biologist *1981–2000 - Roger Wickson, historian A full list of previous headmasters are engraved on a board displayed in the school.

Notable alumni

Post-1900

* Godfrey Ashby, former bishop of St John's, South Africa * Michael Axworthy * Hagan Bayley, scientist and head of chemical biology at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

* Graham Benton, British and world indoor rowing champion * Michael Burdekin, civil engineer and emeritus professor of the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

* John Carroll, mathematician, physicist and former professor of natural philosophy at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

* Matthew Collins (academic), archaeologist * Rob Leslie-Carter, engineer * Sir James Dutton, former commandant-general, Royal Marines * Rob Eastaway, mathematician and ex-puzzle writer for New Scientist * Simon Edge, novelist * James Fair, England and Great Britain hockey goalkeeper * Nickolas Grace, actor * George Guest, organist and choirmaster at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

* Matthew Hancock, former secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport (2018),

secretary of state for health and social care The secretary of state for health and social care, also referred to as the health secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Departmen ...

(2018–21) and member of Parliament for West Suffolk * Phillip Hallam-Baker, computer scientist, mostly known for his contributions to Internet security * Tom James, Olympic gold medal oarsman * Glyn Smallwood Jones, colonial administrator and last governor of Nyasaland * Trevor Kletz, safety engineer and author on industrial safety * Steve Leonard, television vet and BBC presenter * Martin Lewis, financial journalist and founder of the MoneySavingExpert.com consumer finance website * Hugh Lloyd, comedy actor * Patrick Mercer, member of Parliament for Newark * Seb Morris, racing driver * Mike Parry, journalist and radio presenter * Ronald Pickup, actor * Jonathan Samuels, Australia correspondent with Sky News * George Drewry Squibb, lawyer * David Whitley, author of The Midnight Charter * Olivia Whitlam, Olympic rower * Arnold Frederic Wilkins,

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

pioneer * Phil Salt, England Cricketer * Kate Coppack, Welsh Cricketer * Harry Brightmore, Olympic Gold medal coxswain

Pre-1900

* Randle Ayrton, film and stage actor, producer and director * John Bradbury, 1st Baron Bradbury, civil servant and chief economic advisor to the government during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

* Thomas Brassey, civil engineer * Edward Brerewood, mathematician, logician and antiquary * Charles Burney, music historian, musician, composer and philosopher * John Byrom, poet and developer of geometric shorthand * Randolph Caldecott, illustrator * William Chaderton, academic, clergyman and former Regius Professor of Divinity at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

* John Churton Collins, literary critic and former professor of English literature at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

* Piers Claughton, clergyman and former archdeacon of London * Thomas Legh Claughton, first bishop of St Albans and former Oxford Professor of Poetry * George Cotton, clergyman and educator, known for establishing schools in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

* Sir Peter Denis, 1st Baronet, naval officer and member of Parliament * John Downham, clergyman and theologian * Joseph Everett Dutton, pathologist, physician and tropical medicine specialist * Thomas Falconer, clergyman and classical scholar * Thomas Francis, physician, former president of the Royal College of Physicians and former Regius Professor of Medicine at the

* Christopher Goodman, clergyman and writer * William Lee Hankey, painter and illustrator * Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill, former member of Parliament for Shrewsbury and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces * George Lloyd, clergyman * Bert Lipsham, England international footballer and FA Cup winner with Sheffield United in 1902. * George Ormerod, antiquary and historian * William Parry, Elizabethan courtier, MP and spy, executed 1585. * Sir Ralph Champneys Williams, colonial governor of the British Windward Islands and

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

* Thomas Wilson, clergyman The Chester Association of Old King's Scholars (CAOKS), founded in 1866, exists to maintain links between former students. It is one of the longest established alumni associations in the country. The school has recently established OAKS (Organization of Alumni of The King's School) to maintain relations with former pupils. OAKS is free to join and open to all alumni.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:King's School, Chester Ancient grammar schools of Cheshire Educational institutions established in the 1540s Private schools in Cheshire West and Chester Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference 1541 establishments in England Schools in Chester