King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a private school in Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The school was established in 1829 by King George IV, as the junior department of King's College London and had part of the college’s premises in the Strand, prior to relocating to Wimbledon in 1897.
KCS is a member of the Eton Group of schools. It is predominantly a boys' school but accepts girls into the Sixth Form. Girls are progressively being introduced at younger ages, an arrangement to be completed in 2037. In the Sixth Form, students can choose between the International Baccalaureate and A-Level qualifications.
The school is included in The Schools Index as one of the 150 best private schools in the world and among the top 30 senior schools in the UK.
History
A royal charter by King George IV founded the school in 1829 as the junior department of the newly established King's College, London. The school occupied the basement of the college in The Strand. Most of its original eighty-five pupils lived in the city within walking distance of the school. During the early Victorian Era, members of the teaching staff included Gabriele Rossetti, who taught Italian. His son, Dante Gabriel, joined the school in 1837. The best known of the early masters was the water-colourist, John Sell Cotman. Nine of his pupils became practising artists and ten architects. By 1843 there were five hundred pupils and the need for larger premises eventually led to the move to Wimbledon in 1897.
The school was progressive in its curriculum in many areas and appointed its first science master in 1855, at a time when very few schools taught science. The first head, John Richardson Major, served the school 1831–1866. 99 of the school's pupils from this period appear in the Dictionary of National Biography. In 1882, only Eton College surpassed the total of thirty Oxford and Cambridge Board examination certificates obtained by pupils at KCS. In 1897, falling numbers of pupils prompted the move to the school's present site in Wimbledon, a suburb served by the railway lines from Surrey and south London. A separate junior school was opened on the same campus in 1912.
During World War I, many letters were written to the school, including some from the Battle of the Somme. During World War II, the school's Great Hall was damaged by bomb shrapnel, and some of the damage can still be seen on the outside of the hall.
The only remaining link between KCS and its former parent is that one of the KCS board of governors is nominated by King's College London.
Academics All members of the Sixth Form currently study either the IB Diploma or the A-Level course, and all members of the Fifth Form take GCSE and iGCSE qualifications. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic results were not published during the 2019–2020 or 2020–2021 academic years.
GCSE summary: 2018–2024
Year %A*/98 %A*A/987 %A*AB/9876202490.798.399.8202389.898.199.9202290.997.799.6 2019 82.8 96.3 99.5 2018 81.7 96.4 99.5
A level summary: 2018–2024
Year %A* %A*A %A*AB202449.586.196.8202350.0982.7893.57202268.194.299.2 2019 46.5 79.9 94.9 2018 45.6 78.6 95.0
International Baccalaureate Results: 2018–2024
Year %7 %7/6 %7/6/5202461.889.798.8202363.890.699.4202272.199.099.5 2019 56.0 93.8 98.7 2018 60.7 94.1 99.6
Facilities
KCS occupies a 20-acre site on the south side of Wimbledon Common and owns a boathouse on Putney Embankment and two additional playing-fields in Raynes Park and Motspur Park.
In 2010 the school began to renovate and expand its facilities, which was completed in 2019. This included a new sports pavilion (2011), quadrangle and netball court (2015), classroom block (2016), music school (2018), and sports centre (2019).
King's College Junior School
King's College Junior School (also known as KCJS), is the preparatory school for King's College School located in Wimbledon, London, it is on the same campus as King's College Senior school. It was established in its own right in 1912, and educates boys from ages 7–11.
The junior school admits about 85 boys each year in three groups:
At 7+ it takes about 54 boys. At 8+ it takes about 14 boys. At 9+ it takes about 12 boys.
The first two years (3–4) are collectively referred to as 'Rushmere' (as they are taught in Rushmere House), while the final two years (5-6), are called 'Priory'. 2021/2022 fees are £6,425 per term for years 3–4, and £6,930 per term for years 5–6.
As of September 2024 the headmaster is Ted Lougher.
Controversies In 2021 a series of allegations were raised about a culture of misogyny and sexual harassment amongst King's male students. In an open letter to then headmaster Andrew Halls, Ava Vakil called out a 'a deep-rooted culture of misogyny' at the school, labelling King's as a "hotbed of sexual violence," with instances of groping even occurring on school grounds. Further allegations in the letter include catcalling, circulating nude photos of teenage women without their consent, and threatening rape. These allegations were further supported in online, anonymous testimonies alleging even worse behaviour including, but not limited to, rape, on the website Everyone's Invited, where King's was mentioned at least seven times.
In response, the school established an independent panel of experts to review King's policies.
Overseas expansion King's has supported the Shanghai-based education provider Dipont in establishing schools in China. The first two schools, RDFZ King's College School Hangzhou and Nanwai King's College School Wuxi, opened in September 2018. Both schools cater for local Chinese and international students aged 3–18.
King's College International School Bangkok opened in September 2020 to over 300 boys and girls aged 2–10. In August 2023, the school opened for over 1,600 students, including its first Sixth Form pupils. In August 2024, its seventh opened. At capacity, the school will cater to roughly 2,400 students from preschool to Year 13. XET will operate the school and King's Wimbledon.
Founded in 1994, the International School of Monaco (ISM) is a co-educational school with approximately 670 students aged 3–18. There is a bilingual programme for English and French in its early years and primary school. In the senior school the medium of instruction is English, offering IGCSEs in years 10 and 11 and the IB Diploma programme in the sixth form.
Heads of King's College School Dr. Anne Cotton, a former headmistress of Portsmouth Grammar School, has been the head of King's College School since September 2022. The following have been heads of King's College School:Frank Miles and Graeme Cranch King's College School: The First 150 Years. London: King's College School, 1979.
Name Years as head John Richardson Major 1831–1866 George Maclear 1866–1880 T. H. Stokoe 1880–1889 Charles Bourne 1889–1906 Douglas Smith 1906–1910 Herbert Lionel Rogers 1910–1934 Hubert John Dixon 1934–1960 Frank Shaw 1960–1975 Christopher Wightwick 1975–1980 Robin Reeve 1980–1997 Tony Evans 1997–2008 Andrew Halls 2008–2021Jude F Lowson (Acting) 2021–2022Anne Cotton 2022–
Other notable masters
J.S. Cotman (1782–1842), art master G.P.G. Rossetti (1783–1854), Italian master M.E. Cotman (1810–1858), assistant art master A.J. Fletcher (1941–), history master R. Hiller (1942–), mathematics master (1976–2002) G.P. Butcher (1975–), cricket master (2003–2022) Bill Waugh (1973–), hockey master (1996–2002)
Notable alumni
19th-century births Edward Arber (1836–1912), scholar, writer and editor Marcus Beresford (1818–1890), Conservative Party politician and Colonel in the 7th Surrey Rifle Volunteers J. D. Casswell, QC (1886–1963), barrister Sir Monier Monier-Williams (1819–1899), oriental scholar George Devey (1820–1886), architect Arthur Cayley (1821–1895), mathematician William Ince (1825–1910), Regius Professor of Divinity in the University of Oxford Jacob Wrey Mould (1825–1886), architect, renowned for designing Central Park Alfred Barry (1826–1910), Anglican Archbishop of Sydney William Burges (1827–1881), Victorian art-architect George William Kitchin (1827–1912), theologian and the first Chancellor of the University of Durham Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882), Pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Dutton Cook (1829–1883), dramatic critic and author Henry Parry Liddon (1829–1890), theologian Algernon Borthwick, 1st Baron Glenesk (1830–1908), journalist and Conservative Party politician Charles Harbord, 5th Baron Suffield (1830–1914), Liberal Party peer and Master of the Buckhounds Henry Kingsley (1830–1876), novelist Frederic Harrison (1831–1923), jurist and historian Henry Jones (1831–1899), writer and authority on tennis and card games, instrumental in establishing the Wimbledon Tennis Championships Henry Fawcett (1833–1884), British economist, statesman, academic and campaigner for women's suffrage. Felix Stone Moscheles (1833–1917), painter, peace activist and advocate of Esperanto Sabine Baring-Gould (1834–1924), Hagiographer, antiquarian and hymn writer, the best known of which is Onward, Christian Soldiers William Henry Preece (1834–1913), electrical engineer William Grantham (1835–1911), Conservative Party politician and High Court Judge Walter William Skeat (1835–1912), philologist Charles Dickens Jr. (1837–1896), geographic dictionary compiler, and son of the author Charles DickensThe Victorian Web: The University of London and Its Boys' Schools John Festing (1837–1902), Bishop of St. Albans Sidney Godolphin Alexander Shippard (1838–1902), British colonial administrator Edward Robert Festing (1839–1912), Army officer and first Director of The Science Museum Ingram Bywater (1840–1914), classical scholar Alfred de Rothschild (1842–1918), Director of the Bank of England Richard Webster, 1st Viscount Alverstone (1842–1915), Attorney-General, barrister and Conservative Party politician William Turner Thiselton-Dyer (1843–1928), director of the Royal Botanic Gardens William P. Treloar (1843–1923), Lord Mayor of London William Christie (1845–1922), Astronomer Royal Leopold de Rothschild (1845–1917), banker and thoroughbred race horse breeder George Saintsbury (1845–1933), writer and critic Henry Sweet (1845–1912), philologist Henry Kemble (1848–1907), actor and member of the famed Kemble family John Milne (1849–1913), geologist and mining engineer James Drake (1850–1941), Australian politician Frederic Henry Chase (1853–1925), academic and Bishop of Ely Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner (1854–1925), Liberal Party statesman and colonial administrator Gordon Smith (1856–1905), barrister and philatelist Andrew Watson (1856–1921), the world's first black association football player to play at international level and Captained Scotland to a 6-1 victory against England. Sidney Low (1857–1932), journalist and historian Richard Kendall-Norris (1859–1921), Conservative Party politician and businessman Sir Jeremiah Colman, 1st Baronet (1859–1942), industrialist, Chairman of Colman's Mustard Walter Sickert (1860–1942), English Impressionist painter, suspected of being Jack the Ripper James Edward Edmonds (1861–1956), official British historian of World War I Reginald McKenna (1863–1943), Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer John Martin-Harvey (1863–1944), actor George Hillyard (1864–1943), tennis player, Olympic gold medallist, Middlesex cricketer and naval officer Charles Sanford Terry (1864–1936), historian and musicologist Ernest Starling (1866–1927), physiologist, discovered hormones, developed the 'law of the heart', and involved in the Brown Dog Affair Rowland Blades, 1st Baron Ebbisham (1868–1953), Conservative Party politician and Lord Mayor of London Lynwood Palmer (1868–1941), painter of racehorses and carriage horses. Skinner Turner (1868–1935), Chief Judge of the British Supreme Court for China George Holt Thomas (1869–1929), aviation pioneer and founder of Imperial Airways