A Wimbledon high school has today scooped the Sunday Times’ Independent Secondary School of the Year award.
King’s College School, which boasts Bastille’s Dan Smith and Mumford and Sons Marcus Mumford as musical alumni, has also enjoyed a rise up the league tables and has jumped from 17th to 5th in the Sunday Times.
The school hit the headlines earlier this year for its decision to now take girls in the sixth form after nearly 200 years as an all-boys school.
Editor of the Sunday Times Parent Power Alastair McCall, said: “Andrew Halls has carried off the remarkable achievement of creating a school with outstanding examination results without the atmosphere of an academic hothouse.
“Children make an impact across the full spectrum of activities, both inside the classroom and out, and the commitment of those children and the staff of KCS to working with local state schools and sharing their undoubted skills and general excellence is an example to the entire independent sector.”
Head Master, Andrew Halls, is the only head to have steered through two schools through to the UK’s Top School Award.
In 2004 he was headmaster of Magdalen College School, Oxford, when it was also crowned School of the Year.
Mr Halls said: “It is a real privilege to be singled out as the top independent secondary school in the UK.
“Our students, my colleagues and the school’s governors are all gold standard – and it is lovely to see this recognised by the Sunday Times.
“We are all very proud of this award.”
