King’s InterHigh

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Does anyone have any recent experience with using King’s InterHigh online school? Currently thinking of it for our lower secondary age children and any thoughts would be really appreciated, thanks.

Definitely post in home ed as well if you didn't already as you will hopefully get more responses.

I would be interested to know if you had any feed back I am also looking at this school for key stage 4. I have been impressed with the conversations I have had with the school, and the open event show casing the system.
Trust pilot have good reviews, but google not so much which unnerves me.
I am also looking at MVA virtual school which looks great, more pricey but appears to be less interactive than Kings?
Interested to hear people’s experiences.

I work for Kings so I'm probably too biased to reply to this!

I didn’t get any feedback last time but still interested to know people’s thoughts!

Thank you for your reply I appreciate the response.
we will continue to research but Kings is looking like my daughters preferred choice due to the virtual lessons.

My child has been using KIH for some years. It has worked wonderfully for them. It is a pricier way of Home Ed, but for mine a regular timetable was a necessity- within that they work well and diligently. It is really so much down to the child and how they can work best.
Standards are high - and have pleasantly surprised some of those coming from selective schools who were worried that their children wouldn’t be challenged. ( there are chatty WhatsApp parent groups )
You can jump a year or redo if that’s what you need. Socially things are a bit thin though, so in person clubs and activities with same age group children are essential, check out local home Ed groups and the usual afterschool clubs ( scouts/guides, sports teams, art groups etc)
Good luck with your decision.

Thank you, that’s really good to hear. We were impressed with initial conversations with KIH. I love the idea, as do the kids. Just need to get DH on board!

Jebatronic thank you for this insight into your experience from a parent’s perspective.
I also feel my child needs the structure of the virtual lessons, she really likes the idea of learning this way which will eliminate her daily stresses of mainstream learning which I feel is fractured and dated.
I am currently trying to join some home ed groups via social media but it does seem to be hard to get acceptance into these groups.
you mentioned the watts app groups which sound helpful do they have a chat room where you can reach out to other parents and join?

Thank you for your comments I appreciate your time on this 😊

We are doing this for our youngest from September, following a recommendation on here. I have some reservations but his current school is awful, so I think it’s worth a try at least! We have agreed to give it until Christmas and see how it goes. He loves structure and is very motivated, plus I have to work- dh works from home- so it suits our situation. I think some home ed groups, at least round here, can be quite anti- school, and we are not, we just have no faith in his particular school!

Try the Facebook group (King’s Interhigh/MOS parents and friends), lots of people start there as prospective parents just trying to get a feel for the place.
Maybe someone else could add other online school facebooks/social media if you are doing a bit of shopping around ( though happy with KIH, I would still always recommend that you do, just as I would with any parents considering bricks and mortar school)

I'm looking into this too but for younger years. Is it correct 1000 for year? No hidden costs? Because after I factored in transport to school for year, uniforms ect, the costs between the school and the local one were not actually that different 🥰

That's exactly my reasoning! The only local school had police the other day for all the parents haha my nephew on the other hand has a lovely primary, but where we are there isn't really many options x

My son did KIH during the pandemic. I was really impressed. Obviously it won't suit every child, but he was quite driven to learn (hence his upset that schools were closed and my need to find a solution!)

I'm just about to run out of the door, so will post fully later, but my DD has just completed igcses after 2 years with KI. I couldn't recommend highly enough, they have been fantastic.

I'll come back later with more details!

Bumblebee, possibly for KS2, it reads that way to me but I’d advise that you check directly. For iGCSE and ALevel packages it is considerably higher so look there too if this is a longer term plan.
Honestly, this age was too young for my child - too fidgety - we looked into it but decided to wait a couple of years. You know your child best, it’s not a solution for all children at all ages, but for those it suits at the right time it’s a fabulous option.

I would highly advice, from my experience and reading other bad reviews, to not join this school. They don’t respond to emails and you can’t speak in the phone to any admin in regards to their errors in fees they are billing and restricting access to the lessons. Customer service is really bad as well as ending the call just hanging up and refusing to deal with issues. Looks like I’ll end up in court with them, and I won’t be the first one. Be very careful deciding to join this school. They do make it look quite nice, but they are not any different to those from state schools. If you had any issues with state schools before, you’ll find yourself dealing with issues again. Plus the teaching is terrible ( if reading off computer screen can be considered teaching). My child hasn’t learnt anything, I have to find free YouTube videos on the topics and we learn from free videos and not from teachers at this school.

Are you still with Kings? I'm considering either Minerva's or Kings for my 13 yr old in year 8 who is very bright but is sensitive and hates school. I don't mind a bit of bias and can discern my way through that. Why is Kings better? Thanks so much.

This is a concern for me, repeatedly I'm discovering through my research on Kings that failure to communicate seems to be a consistent issue. I'm currently in favour of Minerva's who have less history but who I instinctively warm to. Mum of a 13 year old bright and loving girl here, who absolutely hates school but is so keen to learn.

@FlowerMoonGirl i would think about how does your child learn best? Personally for me even at work I couldn’t sit online all day solidly learning from a screen. There are lots of different resources out there and different people learn in different ways. I would try different approaches to see how your child learns. Some like working their way through a book, others like you tube videos, some like live lessons zoom style, some like recorded they can pause or fast forward, some like one teacher/presenter other can’t understand them.There are several good face book groups that can give you ideas of resources. Plus you don’t have to sit 8-9 GCSEs in one go in May/June if you do it yourself with igcse you can spread out exams , take different topics to MS school and exam sittings Oct/Jan or June. It’s worth taking some time to find out what lights a passion in your child and how they absorb information. We took our 12yr out last year, they are ND but very intelligent but can’t sit still for long unless interested in the topic. After doing very little for 8 weeks except slime making, fresh air, reading mystery books & Roblox we are now upto 3 subjects a day, three igcse subjects on the go and ticking over a couple of others. No one provider has worked for them and the flexibility to mix it up when they don’t click with a resource has been priceless to see them re-engaging with learning. Plus it’s cheaper!

My son goes and loves it! The improvement in his mental health has been staggering too.

We've not had a problem with the admin side of things. It feels like sometimes those who do are surprised when they're held to what the contract says about notice periods etc.

Here is a brief review of our experience of ISH

Kings InterHigh: A Complete Failure in Education
Our experience with Kings InterHigh has been extremely disappointing, and I urge anyone considering this school to look elsewhere. After transferring from MOS during the merger, my daughters' education has been consistently disrupted, and the school has failed to meet even the most basic expectations.
Broken Promises and Lack of Support: The school failed to provide the stability and support we were promised. Advisors who were supposed to guide my daughters through the university application process didn’t follow through. Emails were ignored, and there was zero support with applications or recommendation letters—things that were critical for their future.
Disorganized Scheduling and Disruption: At the start of the school year, my daughters' classes were scheduled at the same time, causing chaos and delays.
Constant Teacher Changes: Both of my daughters experienced a revolving door of teachers—up to five different instructors per class in a few months. Some teachers didn’t even show up, leaving students to study on their own. This lack of continuity completely undermined their learning and forced us to hire expensive private tutors just to cover the basics.
Poor Instruction and Engagement: In many cases, the teaching was inadequate, with instructors simply reading from PowerPoints or playing videos, offering little to no engagement. My daughters learned more in one private tutoring session than they did from weeks of classes at Kings InterHigh.
Unanswered Emails and Missing Grades: Teachers failed to respond to important emails, and assignments that were submitted months ago still haven’t been graded. This lack of accountability has affected my daughters' grades and their university applications.
Final Thoughts: Due to Kings InterHigh’s complete lack of organization, communication, and reliable teaching, we’ve had to pay for extra tutoring in all subjects. This school has failed to deliver the education it promised, and I cannot emphasize enough how much it has disrupted my daughters' academic progress. If you’re considering this school, do your research and think twice. It is not worth the risk.