Basic Information & Location
King’s College, Taunton is an independent co-educational school in Somerset, the South West of England. The journey time from Heathrow Airport to the school is around three hours. King’s College, Taunton was founded in 1880 and is a Woodard school. It ranked third in the Woodard Corporation, just below Ardingly College and Lancing College. It initially became co-educational in 1968 with the introduction of sixth form girls. It is now a fully co-educational school. The school is inspected by Independent Schools Inspectorate in 2012 and was rated as “excellent” in five key areas of school life. The school is similar to Gresham’s School, Eastbourne College and Cheltenham College. It is located in the city center. The exam result is fair. Parents do not have to be worried if the student is hard working. The school adopts small class teaching with high teaching quality, many students achieved improvement at school.
Academic Development
King’s College, Taunton aims to inspire in pupils a desire for excellence and a love of learning which goes beyond the formal curriculum, to develop independent, searching minds and to encourage pupils to realise their full academic potential, ready for university and other tertiary studies. They strived hard for academic excellence. In 2017, 60% of their A-Level grades are A*-B and 74% of the GCSE grades are A*-B.
Many leavers go on to study at numerous prestigious academic institutions including Oxford, Cambridge and Russell Group universities, and some have chosen to continue their studies overseas, taking up scholarships at American universities. The school has a programme of careers and UCAS application support and guidance to ensure that students make wise and appropriate choices about their future. A carousel of weekly meetings informs their decisions. Senior pupils are invited to alumni events where they often make very useful professional contacts and arrange holiday work-placements.
Pastoral Care & Boarding
There are 3 girls’ boarding houses (Carpenter, Meynell and Taylor) and 4 Boys’ Houses (Bishop Fox, King Alfred, Tuckwell and Woodard) to accommodate about 300 boarders. Boarders enjoy the very close supervision of a team of house staff, led by an experienced housemaster or housemistress, assisted by a deputy, a number of tutors and a matron. Sunday activities are organised to give boarding pupils an optional activity on Sundays during term time such as trips to theme parks, local rugby and cricket matches, cultural events and adventurous activities. The school boasts a medical centre, manned 24 hours a day by qualified medical staff.
Extracurricular & personal development
King’s College, Taunton offers a vast and varied array of co-curricular activities, from sport and drama to music and outdoor pursuits, from Combined Cadet Force and dance to cookery and debating. The school particularly emphasizes on their service activities to encourage service and to train up students’ leadership skills. Inter-house competitions include, debating, music and general knowledge events, as well as inter-school debating and public speaking. Four times now their design and technology department has won the Good Schools Guide A-Level Award for Design and Technology, and the pupils regularly win prestigious Arkwright scholarships. The design and technology department are said to be the best in the UK. They have also put many resources on their own art gallery. The art department occupies a unique building, and studio spaces are spread over four floors. Pupils are able to participate in the Main Games programme which encompasses training and fixtures against other like-minded schools within the region. Beyond the Main Games there is great diversity to the sports programme allowing students to participate in something new. They are good at football and has been awarded the first runner-up.
