Less than an hour's drive from Gloucestershire, King's Worcester is one of the UK's leading schools for sporting opportunities and academic excellence, consistently hitting the league tables and cultivating well-rounded, compassionate and dynamic pupils.
For families searching for their child's next school, SoGlos shares eight reasons to consider a King's Worcester education, from its endless co-curricular opportunities to impressive investments in its state-of-the-art facilities.
It's one of the best sporting schools in the UK
Named in a prestigious list of the top 30 sporting schools in the country by School Sport Magazine, King's Worcester is a natural choice for young sportspeople, offering over 15 different sports at specialist level and competing on a regional and national scale.
It's also famous for its rowing provision, with its Boat Club boasting an award-winning boathouse right on the River Severn and an alumna of Olympic oarsman, earning it a place in the top eight UK rowing schools listed by The Good Schools Guide in March 2024.
It has over 120 co-curricular clubs and societies
Pupils at King's Worcester are encouraged to take up both competitive and creative hobbies for their holistic development — and with over 120 clubs and societies on its co-curricular programme, there's certainly something for everyone.
Clubs range from its seven core sports clubs — rugby, hockey, netball, cricket, football, rowing and swimming — to adventure sports like rock climbing and scuba diving; to STEM, digital media, chess and robotics and engineering clubs; and opportunities to learn extra-curricular languages, like Mandarin.
Easy transport links to and from Gloucestershire
Centrally located in Worcester, which is less than an hour's drive from most of Gloucestershire, King's Worcester is an appealing choice for local families seeking an independent education for their children.
Saving parents the school drop-off, it's an easy commute for pupils, with good rail links including direct trains to Worcester city centre from Cheltenham and Gloucester, as well as a rapidly expanding transport network which covers Worcestershire and beyond — with proposals to expand this even further toward Cheltenham.
It achieves consistently high rankings for academic excellence
When it comes to academic achievement, King's Worcester students do outstandingly well, with exam results consistently placing it among the top-ranking independent schools in the region.
Thanks to its impressive results in 2024, King's has once again made The Sunday Times Parent Power league table, which ranks the best 10 schools in the West Midlands — making it the only school in Worcestershire to have been listed consecutively, for three years running.
Access to state-of-the-art facilities in the centre of Worcester
Spanning 56 acres, the King's Worcester campus blends ancient buildings with contemporary architecture and the very best modern facilities in an enviable city centre location.
Thanks to an extensive development programme, costing in the region of £30 million over the last 15 years, pupils benefit from a state-of-the-art sports complex, thriving 300-seat theatre, 12-metre climbing wall and a brand-new art school — as well as a purpose-built boathouse for the Boat Club and school events.
There's a brand-new and impressive Sixth Form Centre
Sixth Form pupils at King's Worcester benefit from their own, dedicated Sixth Form Centre, which offers space to study, meet with mentors and develop skills to help them transition into Higher Education and the working world.
As part of a large-scale redevelopment project undertaken in 2023-24, new Sixth Form facilities include a grab-and-go cafe, careers suite with interview space, and study centre with spaces for quiet, individual study. Phase two of the project includes the development of more Sixth Form classrooms and multi-use spaces, too.
Investment in pastoral care and pupil wellbeing
King's Worcester has a simple but important vision for pastoral care: to create a happy and compassionate school, which gives each pupil a voice, place and purpose.
In recent years, the school has made big investments in redeveloping its pastoral care provision, upgrading its Health Centre with new furnishings and a wellbeing library and creating a new Lower Years Hub, which provides dedicated spaces for pupils in Year 7 and 8 to support their transition into secondary school.
It has a fascinating history that blends tradition and progress
Dating back to 1541, as one of the seven 'King's Schools' established by Henry VIII, King's Worcester is alive with history — with lessons still taught in the medieval Elgar Tower, home to the oldest fully-functioning classroom in Europe, and an historic partnership with Worcester Cathedral, whereby it still educates choristers today.
While respecting the school's history and traditional values, King's offers a 21st-century education that embraces modern technology, progressive teaching methods and a forward-thinking attitude.
