Chromium and its compounds are of particular concern due to their toxicity. Thus, their removal is of great importance before discharging into the environment. In this research, chemically modified magnetic Amberlite XAD-7HP was synthesized using Fe(II) and Fe(III) ions (iron oxide coated Amberlite XAD-7HP) and used for the removal of Cr(III) ions from aqueous solutions. The modified sorbent was characterized using several techniques viz., XRD, SEM, BET, zeta potential, and TGA. The optimum adsorption parameters were investigated in a batch system and evaluated as pH of 6.0, 60.0 min of contact time, 10.0 mg sorbent amount at 25 °C. It was found that the best kinetic fit of the sorption data was demonstrated by the pseudo-second order model rather than pseudo-first order and intraparticle diffusion models. Moreover, Langmuir, Dubinin–Radushkevich and Freundlich models were also studied to explain the interaction between the sorbate and the sorbent and Langmuir isotherm model was found to be more appropriate for the description of the sorption process. The applicability of the method was tested using real water samples and the results demonstrated the efficiency of the method. The overall results indicated that magnetic iron oxide coated Amberlite XAD-7HP particles offer a great potential for the effective removal of Cr(III) ions from aqueous solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]