Which is the oldest continuously operating school in the world?

The King's School is a British co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils in the English city of Canterbury in Kent. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It is held to be the oldest continuously operating school in the world, having been founded in 597 AD.

The school originated as a medieval cathedral school said to have been founded during the Late Antiquity in 597 AD a century after the Fall of the Roman Empire by Augustine of Canterbury considered the "Apostle to the English" and a founder of the English Church, therefore making it the world's oldest extant school. This is based on the fact that St Augustine founded an abbey (within the current school's grounds) where it is known that teaching took place. When the dissolution of the monasteries occurred in the reign of King Henry VIII, the school was refounded as The King's School, Canterbury under the ownership and stewardship of the Dean and Chapter of the cathedral church.