Comparison
Imperial Maths School vs. KCL Maths School
The London head-to-head — the highest-volume comparison on this site. Full detail, sourcing and caveats are on each school's own page — this table is a starting point for comparison, not a replacement for reading both.
| Imperial Maths School | KCL Maths School | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Open | Open |
| Location | Finchley, North London (on the Woodhouse College site) | Lambeth, South London |
| Sponsor | Imperial College London | King's College London |
| Opened | 2023 | 2014 |
| Age range | 16–19 | 16–19 |
| Capacity | 200 | — |
| Current roll | 104 students at the April 2025 Ofsted visit; a third intake of 66 joined in September 2025 | 156–157 students (Sept 2024 Ofsted count: 78 Year 12 + 79 Year 13); rising as a 50%-larger intake begins from September 2025 |
| Boarding | No boarding facilities — day school. | No boarding or residential provision found — operates as a day school. |
| Catchment | No formal priority-county or borough policy found — described only as serving "North London and its surrounds" with no stated hard boundary. | No formally defined boroughs — described only as drawing from "all over London and bordering home counties." The admissions FAQ states no catchment or travel-time restriction is applied; applicants must simply be able to sit the entrance test in person in London. |
| GCSE requirements | Grade 8 or 9 in GCSE Maths; Grade 7+ in the relevant science (Physics and/or Chemistry, or Combined Science); Grade 5+ in English Language or Literature; an average of grade 7 across your best six GCSEs (for the 3 A-level route) or 7.5 across your best eight including English and Maths (for the 4 A-level route). | Grade 8 or 9 in Mathematics; Grade 7–9 in Physics (GCSE or iGCSE), or Grade 7-7+ in Combined Science; Grade 5+ in English Language; four further GCSEs at grade 5+. |
| Admissions deadline | The 2026-entry deadline was Thursday 8 January 2026 (now closed); test 18 January 2026; interviews February 2026; offers March–April 2026; enrolment confirmed on GCSE results day in August 2026. | For September 2026 entry: applications opened 12 September 2025 and closed 23 November 2025; test sat 6 December 2025; interviews 23–24 January 2026; offers issued early February 2026. No personal statement is required, and late applications are not normally considered. |
| Latest results | 2025: 93.5% A*-A | 2025: 92.2% A*-A |
| Ofsted | Not yet fully inspected — a monitoring visit rated "significant progress" on all three assessed themes | "Continues to be an outstanding provider" — short inspection, category judgements under the post-2024 framework |
Imperial College London Mathematics School
Opened 2023 — first-ever results ranked 2nd nationally among state schools in The Times' 2025 table.
King's College London Mathematics School
A founding 2014 school now expanding its intake by 50% — and the highest Oxbridge progression rate we found data for.
See also: Imperial Maths School admissions · KCL Maths School admissions · all comparisons