Kent College vs St Edmund's Canterbury

[London7474]

Hi everyone,
We’re currently looking at Kent College Canterbury and St Edmund’s for our child, who would be going into Year 8, and I’d really appreciate some honest, up-to-date feedback from parents.

I’ve seen a few comments saying they wouldn’t recommend Kent College, including someone saying “don’t bother with KC”, but without really explaining why. I’d be interested to hear from anyone with recent experience of the school, good or bad, and particularly anyone who has moved their child from Kent College to St Edmund’s.

How do the two compare academically and pastorally, and are you happy with the choice you made?
Thank you 😊

Is your child academically strong? My experience of these two schools is that they are generally heavily populated with children who did not pass the Kent Test. The local grammar schools often have spaces (Simon Langton Boys less so), so this may be an option.

DYRMS in Dover is also a great option. Lots of Canterbury children go as Flexiboarders. As it is a state school, the whole package is inexpensive compared with KC and St Ed’s.

Definitely not KC. They might be okay for an extremely sporty and not very academic child whose parents are really, really tolerant of admin dramas. But if that's not you... Steer clear.
The poor admin in particular drove me nuts. Invoices were generally wrong, and details for school events were often only communicated in the same week, leaving parents no time to reig work schedules. Academically, they talk a good game, but reality doesn't live up to the promises. Kids playing Minecraft on their laptops instead of studying, etc.

I don't have personal experience of St. Eds, but this also is not an academically focused school. If that's what you are looking for, your options are the Simon Langton or Kings.

I'm local to the area - have friends' kids in both schools. My children are at the state grammars and are thriving. The impression I get/got are that both schools are not particularly academic but having said that, the kids I know who went there have done exceptionally well. Like previous posters have said, the general consensus is if your child is academic, then the Langton boys/girls and Kings (private school) are your options.

I'd go and see both on a normal day if you can, not just an open morning. From this thread KC sounds a bit chaotic on the parent-comms side and not that academic, but there's still almost nothing first-hand on St Ed's, so I wouldn't write one off from that.

When you're there ask how they look after a Y8 joining, what homework's actually like, and whether they tell you about stuff in time. If your DC is quite academic people here keep saying the Langtons or King's, which is worth a look. If you're more after a gentler school then it's really about how the Y8s seem when you walk round, and whether the school run is doable without wrecking the mornings.

Kent College and St Edmunds are both excellent schools. My child scored 410 on the Kent test and sat the entrance exams for both schools and was offered academic scholarships from both. We visited Langtons too but coming from a state primary school the class sizes of KC & St Eds really appealed to us.
Our child did taster days at both schools before a decision was made. Both schools were impressive but KC felt very switched on with the academia and had a good modern approach to learning. Our child has been very happy there and has been stretched and pushed in lessons and has enjoyed being part of the extra academic scholars program. I think it is unfair to say that these schools are heavily populated with pupils that did not pass the Kent test as there are a lot of children there who are extremely clever and scored very well in the Kent test. The small class sizes and bespoke tuition enable children of all abilities to gain excellent grades in their exams. The interest and encouragement the teachers and staff show in the pupils is wonderful. Everything at Kent College is set up for the pupils to succeed. How the pupils take advantage of this is down to the individuals and their parents. There are a lot of children at the school receiving a wonderful education and enjoying a happy learning environment. There is so much on offer at the school. Alongside the academic subjects they have excellent drama, music and sports depts. The range of after school clubs on offer is terrific. As a parent of a current pupil we are so glad we and our child chose KC. As with everything you are going to find good reviews and bad reviews. I can only pass on my experience of the school.

Completely agree with Tipps1. I’ve had two children at Kent College. My son who is very academic and my daughter who is dyslexic. Both have done really well there. My daughter is currently in the sixth form, having not learnt to read until aged 10, she started in year 7, obtained great gcse results and is now flourishing at A level. Both children gained massively in confidence. It is a genuinely caring school, with great value added across the board.

Just to add, we haven’t experienced any admin dramas and neither of our children are sporty!