It is one of the seven 'King's Schools' established (or re-endowed and renamed) by King Henry VIII in 1541 after the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

[3] An ancient foundation, attached to a monastery that King Henry VIII had dissolved, it still served a purpose teaching grammar to potential ordinands.

The statutes that constituted the school also specified the training and education of choristers for Chester Cathedral, an arrangement that ran in parallel for hundreds of years.

[5] The school motto is "Rex dedit, benedicat Deus” (The King gave it, may God bless it), which was given by John Saul Howson, Dean of Chester.

John Saul Howson was the chief instrument in the building and endowing of the King's School, and in its reorganization on a broader basis.

[citation needed] In September 2011, King's adopted a new curriculum alongside its shift from an eight-period to a five-period day.

The King's rowers often compete in the top levels of school's competitions, and count numerous ex-Boat-Race crew members alongside National and Olympic squad members amongst it Old King's Scholars Alumni including seven Olympians, three in the London 2012 games.

[13][14] The Chester Association of Old King's Scholars (CAOKS), founded in 1866, exists to maintain links between former students.