The King's School Canterbury 13+ guide

Are you thinking about applying to The King's School, Canterbury for 13+ entry? Find out everything you need to know about the admissions process and how to prepare for the entrance exam.

Key information for The King's School, Canterbury

• School type: co-educational independent school (day and boarding)
• Location: Canterbury, Kent
• Admissions contact: admissions@kings-school.co.uk, 01227 595727
• 13+ exam: the ISEB Common Pre-Test (for prep school candidates) or the King's Entrance Exams, KEE (for candidates joining from non-prep or international schools)
• Financial assistance: means-tested bursaries, of up to 100% of full boarding fees
• Scholarships: academic, music, art, sport, design and technology, drama and dance

Important dates for 2027 entry

• 4th September 2026: registration deadline for Year 9 (13+) candidates joining from a non-prep or international school
• Autumn Term, Year 6: ISEB Common Pre-Test taken (prep school route)
• February, Year 6: Experience Day at King's (prep school route)
• March, Year 6: offers communicated (prep school route)
• 31st October, year before entry: deadline for bursary applications
• Candidates joining from non-prep or international schools sit the King's Entrance Exams (KEE) on a rolling basis each autumn — check the school's website to confirm your assessment date

How to apply to The King's School, Canterbury

The King's School is selective. This means your child will need to complete an entrance assessment to be eligible for a place.

Entry is at 13+, into Year 9 — the school's largest entry point, with around 150 pupils joining each year. The admissions route depends on where your child is currently at school:

• From a UK prep school (including Junior King's): register early, and your child will sit the ISEB Common Pre-Test in the autumn term of Year 6, followed by an Experience Day in February if they're shortlisted.
• From a non-prep UK school, or from overseas: register by 4th September 2026 for 2027 entry, and your child will sit the King's Entrance Exams (KEE) at King's, at their current school, through an approved agency, or at a British Council office overseas, on a rolling basis each autumn.

A non-refundable registration fee of £200+VAT applies. Once an offer is made, a place is confirmed with a deposit.

What will my child be tested on?

The exam your child sits depends on their route into King's.

ISEB Common Pre-Test (prep school candidates)

The ISEB Common Pre-Test is an online, adaptive assessment, meaning the questions get harder or easier depending on how your child is performing. It's taken at your child's current school in the autumn term of Year 6, and assesses:

• Maths
• English
• Verbal reasoning
• Non-verbal reasoning

King's Entrance Exams, KEE (non-prep and international candidates)

Candidates joining from a non-prep school or overseas sit the King's Entrance Exams instead. These are held on a rolling basis each autumn, either at King's, at the candidate's current school, through an approved education agency, or at a British Council office overseas.

Interview and school reference

Alongside the relevant test, King's considers a formal reference from your child's current school, and candidates from the prep school route are invited to an Experience Day, where the school gets to know them beyond their test results.

How are places decided?

Places at King's are based on:

• your child's performance in the ISEB Common Pre-Test or King's Entrance Exams, depending on their route
• their performance at the Experience Day (prep school route) or interview (non-prep/international route)
• a formal reference from their current school

Offers for prep school candidates are typically made in March of Year 6. Once an offer is accepted, prep school pupils are invited to a Taster Day in the spring of Year 8 before they join.

Financial information

The King's School, Canterbury is a fee paying school. Take a look at the school's admissions pages for a full breakdown of fees for day and boarding pupils.

Financial assistance

When exploring independent schools for your child, scholarships and bursaries are worth considering. They can ease the pressure of school fees and open doors to opportunities that might otherwise feel out of reach.

Scholarships

Scholarships are awarded for a child's talent or achievement. King's offers seven classes of Year 9 entrance award: academic (King's Scholarships), music, art, sport, design & technology, drama and dance.

Scholarships often come with a fee reduction and acknowledge your child's talents, motivating them and boosting their confidence. Some awards, like Music and Art, require an audition or portfolio alongside the standard entrance requirements, and it's possible to hold more than one award at once.

Visit King's scholarships page to see the scholarships available and how to apply.

For more information, read: Your guide to independent school scholarships.

Bursaries

Bursaries are means-tested awards (based on a family's financial situation) designed to make independent education more accessible. At King's, support of up to 100% of full boarding fees may be available depending on a family's circumstances, assessed through a Statement of Financial Circumstances.

Families provide financial information to qualify, and awards are reassessed each year. To apply, tick the relevant box on the registration form — the deadline for bursary applications is 31st October in the year before entry.

Visit King's bursaries page to find out more and how to apply.

For more information, read: Bursaries: a parents' guide.

Financial support for independent school fees is more available than most families realise.

This free guide is an honest look at how scholarships and bursaries work in practice: what they cover, how the timeline unfolds from Year 4 to Year 6 and how to approach admissions with confidence.

How can I help my child prepare for the test?

One of the hardest parts of exam preparation is knowing what to focus on, when, and how to make steady progress without it taking over family life.

A clear, structured plan helps your child feel less overwhelmed and more in control. It ensures they build skills in the right order, cover everything they need, and avoid last-minute cramming.

Atom's exam plan makes this easier. Enter your child's target schools and exam dates, and we'll create a personalised weekly plan tailored to the topics they'll be tested on. It shows them what to work on and when, adapts as they improve, and helps them build progress in a calm, manageable way — little and often.

That means less guesswork for you, less stress for them, and a clearer path all the way to exam day.

Build smart exam technique

As your child's knowledge grows, practice tests can help them feel more comfortable with the real exam format.

Atom's mock tests are exact replicas of real entrance exams. They're also unlimited — your child can take the same test repeatedly and see new questions each time. This helps them practise without repeating the same content.

Atom's mock tests are automatically marked. You'll see your child's standardised age score (SAS), where they're doing well, and what they should focus on next. You'll also learn how they compare to other children applying to the same school.

Encourage regular reading

Strong reading skills play a big role in preparation for entrance exams.

Encourage your child to read every day, even for just 10–15 minutes. The key is variety. Mix fiction and non-fiction, different genres, and a range of authors. This helps them become more confident in understanding tone, purpose, and meaning across different texts.

Over time, regular reading will:

• broaden their vocabulary
• improve comprehension and inference
• build confidence in tackling unseen texts

And just as importantly, it can help them enjoy reading — not just see it as exam preparation.

Celebrate progress, not just scores

When you're supporting your child through exam preparation, what really matters is knowing they're moving in the right direction — not just how they scored on a single test.

Atom's progress tracking gives you a clear, simple picture of how your child is doing in each topic and the direction they're moving in. You can see where they're on track, where they might need more practice, and spot progress as it happens.

That makes it easier to give meaningful encouragement, keep motivation steady, and focus on what matters most: consistent improvement, not just one-off results.