The headteacher is Amelia McIlroy, replacing David Anderson in September 2024, who had extensive experience in Kent Grammar Schools prior to his appointment.

The school had no permanent home of its own till 1587 when, as a result of community effort, the purpose-built premises were erected on the western edge of the Shooting Meadows, where archery was then practised.

The Elizabethan building remained in use as a school till 1879, when much larger premises (since demolished) were erected in St Ann's Road.

The Abbey was dissolved in 1538 and subsequently most of it demolished as part of King Henry VIII's plans to sweep the monasteries from England.

Much of the building material was removed by military engineers and transported by sea to France, where it was used to strengthen the fortifications of the towns in the Pale of Calais, which at the time was England's continental bridgehead.

Some of the domestic buildings remained in 1671, but not long afterwards the final traces were removed and the exact site of the once famous church sank into oblivion and was lost.

King Stephen in 1154, his wife Matilda in 1152 and son Eustace in 1153, were all buried in the Abbey; two deep pits close to the very centre of the choir were probably the royal tombs.

Boys should wear a white shirt that can be either long or short sleeved and must be worn with a tie along with black tailored trousers.

[9] League tables published by the BBC based on 2008 A-level results ranked Queen Elizabeth's as the ninth best school in Kent.

QuEST annually elects a president and vice-president from its student membership, who (in addition to project leads) work with Science staff to offer fifth- and sixth-formers opportunities to participate in activities across a variety of STEM subject areas.

The society also organises talks, past speakers have included QEGS alumni studying for PhDs and master's degrees, experts from industry, research scientists and academics, as well as an astronaut visiting from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

This has included project work in pursuit of British Science Association CREST Awards and competing in the Greenpower Education Trust's Formula Goblin competition.

[13] QuEST also runs frequent internal events aimed at pupils in the lower school, and hosts external speakers to give talks open to any interested students or staff.

Lower school activities have included "The Twelve Days of QuESTmas", "QuEggs Launchers" - an egg–lander-adjacent engineering task, and the exceptionally popular "Pizza Box Bridge-Building Challenge".