The King’s Hospital: day and boarding education in Palmerstown

The King’s Hospital is a Church of Ireland, coeducational, fee-paying secondary school in Palmerstown, Dublin 20, D20 V256. It offers day places, five-day domestic boarding and seven-day boarding. Contact admissions at +353 1 643 6564 or khadmissions@thekingshospital.ie; reception is +353 1 643 6500.

Founded in 1669 as the Blue Coat School, it occupied Blackhall Place from 1783 before moving in 1970 to its 80-acre Brooklawn campus beside the Liffey. Its patron is the Board of Governors under Royal Charter. The May 2026 admissions policy describes a Church of Ireland and Anglican ethos.

The Department of Education listing, updated 24 July 2026, identifies school roll 60272W and records 341 boys and 391 girls. The school homepage gives 740 pupils and 300 boarders. These are different published snapshots, not a single current enrolment count. The department records no subjects taught through Irish; teaching is in English.

Curriculum and boarding fit

The six-year route is:

• Forms 1–3: Junior Cycle, the lower-secondary programme.
• Form 4: compulsory Transition Year (TY), a year of broader learning between examination cycles.
• Forms 5–6: preparation for the Leaving Certificate, Ireland’s upper-secondary qualification.

Pupils should be 12 by entry to Form 1. The school does not accept transfers from Form 3 into Form 5 to bypass Transition Year.

International applicants must take seven-day boarding for a full academic year, August–June. Entry is limited to Forms 1, 2, 4 and 5; Forms 3 and 6 are examination years. The stated ages on 1 September are respectively 12, 13, 15 and 16, with some exceptions based on class level and maturity.

Compare St Columba’s for another coeducational boarding option near Dublin, or Alexandra College if girls-only education matters. Villiers is relevant if you are considering an IB route and can base the family in Limerick. Check the actual programme and boarding arrangements of each alternative.

How a child gets in

The live Annual Admission Notice, posted 1 September 2026, is titled FOR 2027/2028 INTAKE. The PDF footer still reads Admissions Notice 2026/2027 intake. The dates below follow the 2027/28 heading. Confirm the intended intake with admissions because of this internal dating discrepancy.

Application and decision dates for Form 1 2027/2028 (all dates below are in 2026):

• Accept applications from 1 October.
• Close at 5pm on 22 October.
• Decisions by 6 November.
• Accept an offer by 20 November.
• Remaining places in November and December.

Places being made available in Form 1 2027/28: 120 in total — 40 residential, 80 day.

New Form 1 day applications go through an online form in a three-week window while the child is in 6th class. The Form 1 2027 day form is available from 1 October 2026. An Expression of Interest is open now; the page says that is not a waiting list. Boarding applications may be submitted when the child is in 5th or 6th class. All boarding applicants must visit, or join a video call for interview, before an offer. Family boarding visits run year-round by appointment.

The application requires:

• The child’s PPS number, Ireland’s personal public-service identifier.
• The current primary school’s roll number, its official identifier.
• A copy of the birth certificate.
• A Religious Affiliation Certificate for practising Church of Ireland or Protestant Reformed applicants.
• The €100 non-refundable Form 1 registration fee, except for overseas applicants.

If you do not accept the offer and pay the deposit by the deadline, the offer is withdrawn and the application moves to the bottom of the late list.

Irish-resident applicants for boarding in Forms 2–5 join a waiting list through the Forms 2–5 page.

International applicants use the international application process. Complete the online form, English proficiency test and pre-interview questionnaire, then attend an interview with the Head of Admissions. A €3,000 deposit follows an offer. A professional guardian is required if the family has no relatives or close friends in Ireland.

Boarding Open Mornings printed for 2026/27: 19 November 10am; 26 January 10am; 11 March 10am. The UK page also lists Wednesday 4 November, 10am–2pm, Form 1 2027 only.

Oversubscription and admission conditions

The Admission Policy, approved 21 May 2026, lists exceptions to admission where:

• The school is oversubscribed.
• A boarding applicant cannot meet its self-regulation and self-care requirements, assessed at interview.
• A parent does not accept the code of behaviour.
• Refusal of a non-Church of Ireland/Anglican applicant is essential to maintain the school’s ethos, as stated in the policy.

When oversubscribed, the published priority order is:

1. Practising Church of Ireland families.
2. Other mainstream Protestant or Reformed families.
3. Inter-church families with one practising Church of Ireland or Protestant parent.
4. Children of staff.
5. Siblings of current pupils or former pupils who completed a full cycle.
6. Children or grandchildren of former pupils, capped at 25% of Form 1 places.
7. Pupils from the named Church of Ireland or Protestant feeder primary schools.
8. Other applicants.

Where a category has too many applicants, a lottery with independent oversight determines its waiting-list order. Academic ability is not an admissions criterion, and canvassing is prohibited.

The notice also reports 195 day applications for 80 day places in 2026/27. Its accepted-offer figures are: both parents Church of Ireland or Protestant 18, one parent 3, staff 4, siblings 24, former-pupil parent or grandparent 5, and waiting list 32. It records 43 applicants without an offer who remained on the waiting list.

These published categories should not be treated as a clean breakdown of the 80 advertised places: their figures total 86. Ask admissions how the figures were compiled if using them to assess demand. They do not predict an individual applicant’s chances.

Fees

The fees page titles Fees for the 2026/2027 academic year:

Charge	2026/2027
Day	€9,360 per annum
5-day boarding (domestic)	€19,395 per annum
7-day boarding (domestic)	€21,880 per annum
7-day boarding (EU)	€28,595 per annum
7-day boarding (non-EU)	€29,760 per annum

Domestic Form 1 registration costs €100; overseas applicants do not pay this charge. The acceptance deposit is €1,000 for Irish-resident pupils or €3,000 for overseas pupils whose families are not resident in Ireland. Budget for it separately from current school fees.

The school says it credits the deposit to the final invoice and refunds it in August of the leaving year for pupils who take up their place. Ask accounts to explain that final settlement; do not count both a fee reduction and a separate refund. If the place is not taken up, the deposit is non-refundable and a term’s fees in lieu of notice may also apply.

Invoices are issued in July and December, with payment due before the terms beginning in August and January. Payment arrangements differ by category:

• Domestic families: the preferred method is direct debit, either in two instalments on 1 August and 1 January, or eight monthly instalments from 1 August to 1 March.
• EU overseas families: fees are payable half-yearly in advance, before 1 August and 1 January.
• Non-EU overseas families: annual fees are payable in advance before 1 August.

Credit and debit cards are not accepted. Direct debit is unavailable to overseas students.

The basic boarding fee includes tuition, accommodation, meals, laundry and routine on-site medical attention. Day-pupil lunches cost extra, using a prepaid Sodexo account. Each pupil in Forms 1–6 must have a device bought through Wriggle rather than the school.

The 2026/27 fee-information page lists additional charges:

Item	Charge
Mandatory personal accident insurance	€15 annually
Form 1 optional-subjects charge	€50
Mandatory Transition Year charge	€280 on each July and December invoice
Bluecoat Magazine	€25 per family
Optional Parents’ Association contribution	€25

Fee support for 2026/2027 includes several schemes with different eligibility rules:

• Charter Bursary: a top-up to the Secondary Education Committee (SEC) boarding grant.
• Entrance Bursaries: up to two means-tested awards for incoming Form 1 day pupils.
• Governors’ Bursary: discretionary help for temporary financial hardship.
• Canon Gibson Bursary: about 33.3% of day fees for children of Church of Ireland clergy.
• Entrance scholarships: amounts are not published on the page; ask the school about the available awards.
• Sibling discounts: 5% for the second child, 10% for the third or fourth, and 15% for the fifth, applied to the basic annual fee.

SEC grants may help Protestant families domiciled in the Republic of Ireland. Check eligibility and the award with the SEC before deducting any grant from your budget.

These fees apply to 2026/2027 and may change at the Board of Governors’ discretion. The accounts team is available at feeaccounts@thekingshospital.ie or +353 1 643 6534, 9am–5pm Monday to Friday throughout the year.

Our view

Choose King’s Hospital if its Church of Ireland ethos, coeducational setting and six-year Leaving Certificate route fit your child. The compulsory Transition Year and the boarding category are important commitments, not minor timetable choices.

Before accepting, confirm the admissions priority category, boarding suitability, guardian arrangements where needed and full annual costs. International applicants should plan for seven-day boarding, not assume they can choose a day place after arrival.

Friendly orientation, not an application. Dates, fees, and programme details move. Confirm everything with the school.