King's Ely
Ely, Cambridgeshire
Founded in 970 AD, King's Ely has grown to become a thriving global community of 1,150 students (from 40 different nationalities).
Our academic standards are high driven by award winning teachers. We offer 35 different sports including rowing. We win international awards for our brilliant Creative Arts. We raise the roof of the magnificent Ely Cathedral with our outstanding music concerts. The Martin Doyle Challenge, the Sword and Dagger and the Hoop Trundle are all part of what makes us Uniquely King's.
95% of our Sixth Form leavers take up places at their first choice university including Oxbridge, UCL, Durham, St Andrews, York, Imperial College, Edinburgh, Warwick and Exeter.
In 2024 we were the Independent School of the Year for Sport. In 2025 we were short-listed as the Co-Curricular School of the Year. In 2026 King's Ely was given the Talk Education Award for Pastoral Care and Student Wellbeing.
| Secondary Gender | Co-ed |
| Sixth Form Gender | Co-ed |
| Boarding/Day | Boarding, Day & Flexi |
| Age Range | 13 – 18 |
| Entrance Exam | Yes |
Exam Performance
GCSE
A*/A (9-7) Results
A-Level
A*/A Results
Annual Fees
All fees shown are annual and are inclusive of VAT.
Boarding at King's Ely
If walls could talk, those of King's Ely's seven boarding houses would speak of happy students, full bellies and good nights' sleep. Our experienced team of House Masters and Mistresses work hard to create home-from-home environments in which students can thrive, focus on their studies and make friends for life. Many of our boarders open their windows in the morning to the sight and sounds of Ely Cathedral. Many too get to spend their time in houses straight out of a Harry Potter movie! Whilst beams, stone arches and low doors abound, the boarding houses are equipped for modern day living. A rolling programme of renovation and refurbishment ensures that the students enjoy only the very best facilities. A programme of on-and-off campus activities, and access to all that the school has to offer ensures that there is never a dull moment, whilst allowing students the chance to sleep, eat, work and catch up with friends and family.
With a few notable exceptions for Year 13 students, boarding at King's Ely is in shared rooms. This ensures the quality of the boarding experience for our students; a friend to ask for help when a room mate is unwell or missing home, a voice of encouragement to join in a house or school activity, a word of advice from a student who is more familiar with the boarding routine. Boarding at King's Ely begins from Year 5. Our houses are gender and age specific. Each brings with it its own slice of school and City history.
During our three EXEAT weekends, students can choose to remain on campus for an additional fee. As a result, EXEATS have been re-christened FLEXEATS!
Strengths at King's Ely
King's Ely is best known for its Creative Arts, (including Music), its STEM and outdoor provision. Our students have fingers in more than one pie so that they can be shaped into the next generations of academics, artists, musicians, sportsmen and women, architects, ambassadors, financiers and entrepreneurs. This transformation excites us. We believe that our King's Ely community is richer because students with differing interests and ambitions rub shoulders with each other on a daily basis.
Art (Fine Art, Photography, Textiles, Ceramics)
Art - covering fine art, textiles and photography, is perhaps what King's Ely is known for most across the globe. With 75% of Textiles students securing an A* or A grade at A level, and 78% of Photography students earning an A* or A grade, our results speak for themselves. But dig deeper beneath the grades and you will find a tight-knit department led by talented teachers who work hard to foster unbelievable levels of creativity and daring amongst their students. Opportunities to enter national and international competitions, to stage catwalk and fashion shows in local and London venues, and to attend masterclasses and galleries galore, the Creative Arts programme at King's Ely attracts students to it from across the world. Students consistently go on to study a range of art and fashion related subjects at leading colleges and universities. Our Lent Term Exhibition is a celebration of all that our students create. A separate video is available on request of this spectacular event.
Music
From the choir stalls of Ely and St Paul’s Cathedrals to the steps of churches across Sardinia and Seville, the voices of the King’s Ely musicians have rung out to critical acclaim. Closer to home, the school’s students receive one-to-one music lessons from a team of over 35 visiting music teachers who offer top-class tuition across all manner of orchestral and rock instruments. Many deepen their learning at the London Colleges of Music at the weekends. Opportunities abound for students to join one of the very many ensemble groups which rehearse before, during and after school. From our sunshine Calypso Steel Drum Band, to our punctuating acapella cello group Spikes, to our Valentine-serenading Barber Shop choir, to our rhythmic and polished drum-line, music at King’s Ely knows no bounds. The one thing that unites all musicians is a sense of energy and fun, with performers chasing the dream of playing in the greatest of all local music venues, Ely Cathedral!
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)
"Prove it with Practical" is the mantra of our STEM Departments, championed by teachers who passionately believe in getting hands-on with, and stuck-into science, technology and maths. Budding medics, vets, engineers and computer scientists can find weekly enrichment through our Avicenna, Turin and Da Vinci Clubs all of which harness the intellectual capability and potential of nearby Cambridge University and Science Parks with visiting speakers engaging with students from Years 9 to 13. Together with additional STEM Clubs, these opportunities have earned King's Ely the STEM Clubs GOLD Quality Mark in recognition of the depth and breadth of the programme on offer. Science Week is always a highlight of the school calendar with alumni keen to come back to share their University and working experiences. The Department is consistently rewarded with strong GCSE and A level results with departing Year 13 students heading to top universities to study Engineering, Medicine, Dentistry, Computing, and Bio-Chemistry. in 2026, A level results for Maths, Chemistry and Physics saw 83%, 82% and 79% of King's Ely students secure A* to B grades respectively.
Outdoor Pursuits
King's Ely understands the importance of offering students the chance to learn in a variety of environments, balancing enrichment inside the classroom with opportunities outside of the classroom. The school's very own Assault Course, is widely used to challenge students' ability to work as a team, their resilience, grit and determination. The Ely Scheme runs from Year 9 as a valuable introduction to the demands of the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme (Bronze, Silver and Gold). Year 9 students work with their Year 12 counterparts (a great chance to hone emerging leadership skills), to develop their climbing and abseiling skills, their survival instincts and their sense of direction. All of which are essential when the time comes to be dropped on the side of a mountain with a compass, a cagoule and tin of uncooked beans! The Sword and Dagger is an annual school interhouse event which pits these same skills against those of each competing House. Students quite literally leave their blood, sweat and tears out on the course in their pursuit of victory and bragging rights!
Affiliated Schools
King's Ely is proud of its Nursery, Pre-Prep and Prep School. Each boasts the same broad and balanced approach to learning and building pupil confidence. Values such as Kindness, Courage, Creativity and Resilience are shared across the different sections of the school, deepening and becoming ever-more embedded in the day-to-day life of the pupil as their journey progresses. Fairstead House Prep School and Nursery (up to and including Year 6) in nearby Newmarket completes the family. Whilst a smaller school, Fairstead House pupils benefit from the same wide-ranging opportunities in sport, drama, music, trips, clubs and activities.
Latest events and open days
Whole School Open Morning
Sixth Form Open Morning
Whole School Open Morning
Location
The Old Palace
Palace Green
Ely
CB7 4EW
Nearest Airports
- London Stansted35.4 miles (57.0km)
- London Luton44.7 miles (72.0km)
- London Heathrow70.8 miles (114.0km)
Nick Tappin
Director of Admissions and Marketing
King's Ely
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