"[4] The school has produced a number of notable alumni, including, Edward the Confessor, King of England,[5] Lord Browne of Madingley, former chairman of BP,[6] and James Bowman, countertenor.

All King's Ely sections share resources such as sports facilities and the refectory in the Monastic Barn (unless in Sixth Form where pupils eat in the Bishop's Palace).

[24] In June 2002, the Principal Richard Youdale aroused media interest and criticism with an announcement that the school would be phasing out rugby[25] which had been introduced in the place of football in the early 1950s.

The imposing Porta is the gateway into the monastic buildings of the cathedral, and now houses the school's largest library, classrooms and a conference room, as well as its archive.

[47][better source needed] The Bowman Lecture was launched in 2014 to promote the creative and liberal arts at the school and is funded by the Old Eleans' Club.

[49] Since its founding, speakers have included: James Bowman, Lord Browne of Madingley, Dame Fiona Reynolds, Gus Unger-Hamilton, Richard Pinto, Harry Sidebottom, and Mathelinda Nabugodi.

[71][72] As well as the core subjects, the school's A Level range includes three modern languages, Latin, politics, film studies, classics, economics, psychology and philosophy of religion.

[77] The meaningfulness of these league tables has been very strongly questioned as some qualifications are not taken into account when they are compiled, notably International GCSEs (IGCSE) which are frequently offered by independent schools including King's Ely as they are considered good preparation for A Levels.

Some of these activities include: Aerobics, Arts Award, Athletics, Badminton, Brass Ensemble, Chapel Choir, Christian Union, Chess, Concert Band, Contemporary Dance Club, Cricket, Dance Club, DaVinci Engineering Society, Duke of Edinburgh's Award (Bronze, Silver, and Gold), Ely Cathedral Girls' Choir, Ely Scheme, Equestrian, Football, Golf, Gymnasium, History Café, Hockey, Jazz Band, Kayaking, King's Barbers, King's Orchestra, Netball, Percussion Ensemble, Pilates, Rowing, Rugby, Running Club, Spikes Cello Group, Squash, Strength and Conditioning, String Orchestra, Swimming, Tennis, The Big Thinking Club, Theatre Masterclass, Yoga, and Zumba.

In 2022 plans were submitted to the council to build an additional artificial turf pitch which would according to Mark Hart, Chief Operating officer of King's Ely, be used for "hockey, football, tennis, circuit training, and more.

[109] The school holds an annual music festival, where pupils represent their houses in a competition, culminating in a Finalists' Concert.

A less serious music competition is held in the Michaelmas term, when all senior school houses represent themselves in a unison and ensemble class.

The department regularly has former pupils entering the performing-arts industry and has a growing number of candidates auditioning for Theatre Schools.

Recent productions have included: Made in Dagenham, Education Education Education, The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, Lord of the Flies, The Dreaming, The Lion King, Arabian Nights, Grimm Tales, Around the World in 80 Days, Frankenstein, Jesus Christ Superstar, Les Misérables, Seussical, Electra, The Electra project, Into The Woods, Grease, Whistle Down The Wind, We Will Remember Them, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Cagebirds, Iphegenia in Orem, Guys and Dolls, Wendy and Peter Pan, Emil and the Detectives, Medea, Pride and Prejudice, and Legally Blonde: The Musical.

[114] In 2017, the school's first performance at the Fringe Festival, a production of 'The Dreaming', was awarded 5 stars by James Taylor of The Edinburgh Reporter.

[115][better source needed] The Ely Scheme is the schools outdoor education initiative which has been running as an alternative to the Combined Cadet Force for over 30 years.

[117] King's Ely has a dedicated climbing wall, bouldering cave, and all-terrain course, as well as access to an even larger obstacle course at nearby Braham Farm.

The competition is named in memory of Christopher Humphries who had a love of outdoor learning and who was heavily involved in the Ely Scheme Initiative.

King's Acremont Nursery and Pre-Prep occupies a Georgian-style house on Egremont Street,[121] a ten-minute walk from the main campus.

[123] Acremont pupils join the rest of the school for major events in the cathedral where they stage their annual Christmas production.

[125] In the last 3 years, King's Ely has integrated the study centre into the main school, with more shared activities in sports and academia.

[131] Like most public schools, King's is a non-profit educational body and a registered charity,[132] and as such benefits from substantial tax breaks.

[12] These include music scholarships—amounting to around two-thirds for choristers whilst serving in the Cathedral Choir, and a third scholarship upon their continuation as a pupil in the Senior School.

The Senior School occasionally offers a large major scholarship for a promising organist or musician who is of a particularly high quality.

For Year 9 the scholarships available are: Academic, Art, Dance, Drama, Music, Sports, ECGC (Ely Cathedral Girls' Choir), and STEM.

Two members of the group, Patrick Aspbury and CJ Porter-Thaw who formed part of The Choirboys, were Ely Cathedral choristers.

The choir has toured many countries in the past, including the United States, Canada, Malta as well as extensively in mainland Europe.

[139] The choir is also regularly engaged in concerts, both in the cathedral as well as other prestigious venues (such as the Royal Albert Hall) and has produced a number of Compact Discs.

They are supplemented by additional singers on Sundays and for major feasts, and there are also a number of Sixth Form Choral Scholars who are also pupils at King's Ely.

In his memoirs, Christopher Campling described the voice of the boys in 1955 as "something different" from other Cathedral Choirs: "Michael Howard [the director of music] purposely produced a tone for the boys which was halfway between the continental guttural sound produced from the chest voice, and the pure hard tone of the traditional English cathedral treble, as found at King's College, Cambridge.