The King's School, Macclesfield, is an
all through co-educational
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...
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 ...
in
Prestbury, Cheshire, England, and 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 ...
. It was founded in 1502 by Sir John Percyvale, a former
Lord Mayor of London
The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...
, as Macclesfield Grammar School.
History
The King's School was founded in 1502 within the
Church of St Michael and All Angels, Macclesfield. It was re-founded by
Edward VI
Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...
in 1552 as the "Free Grammar School of King Edward VI". It moved to Cumberland Street, 300 metres further from the town square, in 1844. In July 2020 the school moved to a new location adjacent to its long-held Derby Playing Fields, on the outskirts of Macclesfield.
In 1844 a Modern School, with a more commercial and technical curriculum, was built by the governors to run in tandem with the Grammar School. It merged with the Grammar School in 1912.
The school operated as a direct-grant school and offered scholarships for boys from state elementary schools from 1926 until 1966, when its application to continue as a
direct grant grammar school
A direct grant grammar school was a type of selective secondary school in the United Kingdom that existed between 1945 and 1976. One quarter of the places in these schools were directly funded by central government, while the remainder attracted ...
was refused and it became fully independent.
The boys' junior school was opened in 1947. In 1993 girls from age 11 to 16 were admitted and housed with co-educational juniors, and later infants, at the old Macclesfield High School site on Fence Avenue. The Sixth Form had been co-educational since 1986.
The King's School's 2020 development plans involved closing the two existing school sites in Macclesfield and opening a new single site school in
Prestbury, near Macclesfield. The development plans involved selling off the two existing school sites for housing development to fund the new school site. The school acquired greenbelt farmland adjacent to its Derby Fields site for which it subsequently sought planning permission in order to develop the existing school site and the farmland for housing. Planning permission was granted to the school to build more than 250 houses on the greenbelt land in Macclesfield in July 2016. The new school was built on green belt land in nearby Prestbury. Planning permission for all sites was confirmed when the Secretary of State declined to call in the plans for further scrutiny in September 2016.
In July 2020 King's School left Macclesfield after more than 500 years of continuous operation in the town and relocated to Prestbury.
In 2024, after 500 years of teaching Latin, King’s school controversially withdrew Latin from its curriculum. This led to parents making a formal complaint to an independent body regarding this decision and the lack of transparent decision making by the school’s governing body.
Academia
The school follows the
National Curriculum A national curriculum is a common programme of study in schools that is designed to ensure nationwide uniformity of content and standards in education. It is usually legislated by the national government, possibly in consultation with state or othe ...
for
GCSE
The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...
in Years 10–11 and
A-Levels
The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...
in the sixth form. In 2012, pupils achieved A*/A in 41% of all exams and A* – B in three-quarters of exams. Pupils achieved the best-ever GCSE results in 2012 with 33% of grades at A* grade, more than 63% of grades at A*/A and 86% at A* – B grade.
In 2011, pupils achieved 75% A* to B grade at A-level, with a 99.7% pass rate, and 60% As and A*s at GCSE.
In 2023, pupils achieved at GCSE level 43% of all grades at 9/8 (A*) , 65% grades 9-7, 83% 9-6. For A-Levels, 48% of all grades were A*/A , 80% of all grades were A*-B, with 7 students getting 3 A*s.
Extra-curricular activities
Music
In 2003 the school's Foundation Choir won BBC ''
Songs of Praise
''Songs of Praise'' is a BBC Television religious programme that presents Christian hymns, worship songs and inspirational performances in churches of varying denominations from around the UK alongside interviews and stories reflecting how Ch ...
'' Choir of the Year. It takes bi-annual trips to perform across Europe, having visited
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
,
Levico Terme
Levico Terme (''Levego'' in local dialect; ''Löweneck'' in German; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and a town in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. As of 30 June 2012, it had a population of 7,668 and an are ...
,
Strasbourg
Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
,
Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...
and
Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
. In 2016 the choir performed in
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
. The choir and numerous bands also perform at nearby St Michael's Church. The school's music department is equipped with a recording studio and practice rooms and offers instrumental lessons to the students.
The department also performs musicals such as ''The Revenge of Sherlock Holmes'', a
West End musical, in 2012.
Drama
The school performs two to three plays a year; one by the Boys' Division/Sixth Form, one by the Girls' Division, and one by the Juniors. Recent plays include ''Cinders'', ''Arabian Nights'', and ''The Ramayana''. Now that the school is completely co-educational, there are performances in Infants, Junior divisions respectively and the Seniors and Sixth Form perform together. In 2023, they performed ''Bleak Expectations.'' In 2024, they performed ''Guys and Dolls.''
School trips
Trips abroad are arranged by individual departments, including those by the History and Classics departments, in addition to annual foreign language exchange visits. Pupils are involved in biennial
World Challenge Expeditions and recent expeditions have been to
Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
,
Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
, India and most recently
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...
.
The school's Outdoor Activities Club organises regular trips to Yorkshire or the Peak District, that include walking, climbing and caving.
In 2023, the school undertook a 3-week expedition to
Borneo
Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...
.
Sports
School sports include
rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby union: 15 players per side
*** American flag rugby
*** Beach rugby
*** Mini rugby
*** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side
*** Rugby tens, 10 players per side
*** Snow rugby
*** Tou ...
,
hockey
''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...
,
netball
Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...
,
cheerleading
Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense Physical exercise, physical activity. It can be performed to motivate s ...
, and
cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
.
Headmasters
*1502–1533: William Bridges (first)
*1533–1560: John Bold
*1560–1588: John Brownswerde
*1588–1631: William Legh
*1631–1648: Thomas Bolde
*1648–1662: Henry Crosedale
*1662–1666: Edward Powell
*1666–1674: Ralph Gorse
*1674–1676:
Thomas Brancker
*1676–1689: Rev. John Ashworth
*1689–1690: Caleb Pott
*1690–1704: Timothy Dobson
*1704–1717: Edward Denham
*1717–1720: George Hammond
*1720–1745: Rev. Joseph Allen
*1745: Edward Ford
*1745–1749: Christopher Atkinson
*1749–1774: Rowland Atkinson
*1774–1790: Henry Ingles
*1790–1828: David Davies
*1828: Thomas Bourdillon
*1828–1837: Rev. Francis Stonehewer Newbold
*1849–1872: Rev. Thomas Brooking Cornish
*1837–1849: William Alexander Osborn
*1880–1910: Darwin Wilmot
*1910–1933 : Francis Duntz Evans
*1933–1966: Thomas Taylor Shaw
*1966–1987: Alan Cooper
*1987–2001: Adrian Silcock
*2001–2011: Stephen Coyne
*2011–2020: Simon Hyde
*2020–present: Jason Slack
Notable former pupils
*
Ian Curtis
Ian Kevin Curtis (15 July 1956 – 18 May 1980) was an English singer, songwriter and musician. He was the lead singer, lyricist and occasional guitarist of the band Joy Division, with whom he released the albums ''Unknown Pleasures'' (197 ...
(born 1956; died 1980), of the post-punk band
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...
*
Thomas Newton
Thomas Newton (1 January 1704 – 14 February 1782) was an English cleric, biblical scholar and author. He served as the Bishop of Bristol from 1761 to 1782.
Biography
Newton was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and was subsequently elec ...
(born 1542; died 1607), English
clergyman
Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
and poet
*
John Blundell, economist
*
Thomas Taylor Thomas Taylor may refer to:
Military
*Thomas H. Taylor (1825–1901), Confederate States Army colonel
*Thomas Happer Taylor (1934–2017), U.S. Army officer; military historian and author; triathlete
*Thomas Taylor (Medal of Honor) (born 1834), Am ...
, priest and historian
*
John Bradshaw, chief prosecutor of
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
and the first man to sign his death warrant
*
Charles Gordon Hewitt
Charles Gordon Hewitt (February 23, 1885February 29, 1920) was a Canadian economic entomologist and pioneer of conservation biology. He was appointed dominion entomologist of Canada in 1909. He helped in the development of the Destructive Insect ...
(born 1885; died 1920), British-Canadian consulting zoologist
*
James Hope (born 1801; died 1841), cardiologist and physician
*
Hewlett Johnson
Hewlett Johnson (25 January 1874 – 22 October 1966) was an English priest of the Church of England and Christian communist. He was Dean of Manchester and later Dean of Canterbury, where he acquired his nickname "The Red Dean of Canterbury" f ...
, Dean of Canterbury, known as the Red Dean
*
Sir Eric Jones (born 1907; died 1986), former Director of
GCHQ
Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the United Kingdom. Primar ...
[D. R. Nicoll, ''Jones, Sir Eric Malcolm (1907–1986)'', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004](_blank)
/ref>
* Anthony Golds (born 1919; died 2003), diplomat
* Tom Margerison
Thomas Alan Margerison (13 November 1923 – 25 February 2014) was a British science journalist, author, and Television presenter, broadcaster who founded the magazine ''New Scientist'' in 1956. He was a science correspondent for ''The Sunday Ti ...
(born 1923; died 2014), Founder of the New Scientist
''New Scientist'' is a popular science magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organ ...
, journalist at the Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
and BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
Broadcaster
* Alan Jones (born 1927; died 2009), Scottish first-class cricketer
* The Lord Beith of Berwick-on-Tweed, Alan Beith (born 1943), politician
* Duncan Robinson (born 1943), Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge
Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...
and Chairman of the Henry Moore Foundation
The Henry Moore Foundation is a registered charity in England, established for education and promotion of the fine arts — in particular, to advance understanding of the works of Henry Moore, and to promote the public appreciation of sculpt ...
* Christian Blackshaw (born 1949), classical pianist
* Robert Longden (born 1951), British actor, director, composer and librettist.
* Steve Smith (born 1951), Captain of England (28 caps) and the British Lions rugby union teams
* Guy Ryder (born 1956), political scientist
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
and Director-General of the International Labour Organization
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...
* Stephen Morris (born 1957), of the post-punk band Joy Division
Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...
* Jon Craig
Jon Craig is the Chief Political Correspondent of Sky News, the 24-hour television news service operated by Sky (UK and Ireland), Sky Television, part of British Sky Broadcasting. He has occupied this position since July 2006.Sky News
Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...
* Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
(born 1958), former Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
Chief Executive
* Guy Laurence (born 1961), CEO of Chelsea Football Club
Chelsea Football Club is a professional football club based in Fulham, West London, England. The club was founded in 1905 and named after neighbouring area Chelsea. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football, pl ...
; former CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization.
CEOs find roles in variou ...
of Vodafone UK
Vodafone Limited, trading as Vodafone UK (stylised as vodafone), is a British telecommunications company, owned since May 2025 by VodafoneThree, a joint venture between Vodafone Group (51%) and Three owner CK Hutchison Holdings (49%). The ...
* Peter Moores (born 1962), England cricket coach
* William Jackson (born 1964), British businessman and philanthropist
* Andy Bird
Andy Bird CBE (born 3 January 1964) is a British executive. He was chairman of Walt Disney International until 2018. Bird was the CEO of Pearson plc from October 2020 until his retirement on 8 January 2024.
Early life
Bird was born and rais ...
(born 1964), Chairman, Walt Disney International
* Oliver Holt (born 1966), former Chief Sports Correspondent for The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
and current Chief Sports Writer for the Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...
* Vice Admiral
Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral.
Australia
In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...
Jerry Kyd
Vice Admiral Sir Jeremy Paul Kyd, (born August 1967) is a former senior officer in the Royal Navy. He has served as the Lieutenant Governor of Jersey since October 2022. He formerly served as Fleet Commander from March 2019 to September 202 ...
(born 1967), Fleet Commander
The Fleet Commander is a senior Royal Navy post, responsible for the operation, resourcing and training of the ships, submarines and aircraft, and personnel, of the Naval Service (United Kingdom), Naval Service. The Vice-Admiral incumbent is requ ...
of the Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
, former Captain of HMS Queen Elizabeth
HMS ''Queen Elizabeth'' could refer to one of three ships named in honour of Elizabeth I of England:
* was the lead ship of the s, launched in 1913 and scrapped in 1948
* HMS ''Queen Elizabeth'' was to have been the first of the 1960s planned CV ...
* Richard Pool-Jones (born 1969), former England rugby union and Stade Francais player
* Stanley Chow (born 1974), artist and illustrator
* Helen Marten (born 1985), artist and Turner Prize
The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award). ...
winner
* Matthew Falder (born 1988), convicted child sex offender
* Matty Healy
Matthew Timothy Healy (born 8 April 1989) is an English singer-songwriter and record producer who is the lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the pop rock band the 1975. He is recognised for his Lyricist, lyricism, Eclecticism in music, ...
(born 1989), singer in The 1975
The 1975 are
an English pop rock
band formed in Wilmslow, Cheshire, in 2002. The band consists of Matty Healy (lead vocals, guitar, primary songwriter), Adam Hann (lead guitar), Ross MacDonald (bass), and George Daniel (drums, primary produ ...
* Tommy Taylor
Thomas Taylor (29 January 1932 – 6 February 1958) was an English association football, footballer, who played as a Forward (association football), centre-forward and was known for his aerial ability. He was one of the eight Manchester United ...
(born 1991), England rugby union capped player (hooker) with London Wasps
* Jonathan Marsden (born 1993), first-class cricketer, teacher at Harrow School
Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...
* Tom Hudson (born 1994), professional rugby player at Gloucester Rugby
Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.
The club was formed in 1873 and since 1891 has played its home matches ...
* Blake Richardson (born 1999), musician, member of British band New Hope Club
New Hope Club were a British pop trio formed in 2015, consisting of Reece Bibby, Blake Richardson, and George Smith. Their debut EP, ''Welcome to the Club'', was released through Steady Records/Hollywood Records on 5 May 2017; the band rele ...
* Cameron Redpath (born 1999), professional rugby player at Bath Rugby
Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Founded in 1865 as Bath Football Club, since 1894 the club has played at the Recreation Ground, Bath, Rec ...
* Alex Denny (born 2000), professional footballer at Everton FC
Everton Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in 1878, the club was a foun ...
* Reece Grady (born 2005), swimmer
Publications
Published books by King's School teachers:
*
*
*
*
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kings School, Macclesfield, The
Ancient grammar schools of Cheshire
Private schools in the Borough of Cheshire East
1502 establishments in England
Educational institutions established in the 1500s
Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
Diamond schools