Guildford prep schools

[scrumptious1]

Hello, can any local mums let me know which in their opinion is the better school: Lanesborough or Longacre. My DS is 3yrs old and has been accepted at both. I'm finding it difficult to choose between them.... Thanks

[AMumOfThree]

They are both good schools, but very different. You need to decide what is important to you, for example:

• co-ed to 11 versus all boys to 13
  
• more academically selective (Lanesborough) versus wider ability range (Longacre)
  
• bigger school, especially from yr3 where it is 3 forms (Lanesborough) versus smaller school
  

My personal view is that location also matters a lot, especially for young children. Which is easier for you to get to? Traffic and parking around Lanesborough at pick up and drop off can be pretty busy, taking into account all the other schools in the area.

[scrumptious1]

Hello & thank you for responding. We are the cathedral side of Guildford, so both would be the same re travel times. Lanesborough seems to have a cache & longstanding record of boys moving on to rgs, however Longacre seems to be scoring high on academic scholarships .... (18 scholarships from 32 pupils in 2015). DS seems to mix easily and is very chatty.

[chickens]

My son has been at Lanesborough for just over a year, he loves it. It feels small and friendly, he knows everyone's name, Headmistress & teachers are all great, in my experience. The parents all seem very nice too, not posh & cliquey. You really don't know who has millions & who is scraping by to pay fees.
A friend took her daughters out of Longacre, she didn't like it at all- snotty mums & she didn't like the Headmistress.
But, it is whatever is right for your child!

[Auroborea]

DS has been through Braganza at Lanesborough and is now in Year 3. He has been really happy in pre-prep, so much so that he didn't want to leave at the end of Year 2 to transfer 'across the road'! He is now settling in well in the prep department, which has a very different feel. We are also very happy with Lanesborough so far, they seem to have discovered some hidden talents we had no idea he had!
We really liked Longacre too when we looked around, but for us it was too far. If you are equidistant from both I would probably still go for Lanesborough, but I personally prefer an academically selective environment (if it's right for the child at that particular stage - remember that you can choose again later), and you get an easier choice of 11+ or +13+. For what it's worth, last year about a third of Lanesborough cohort went to RGS, so it's by no means a safe bet for getting him there. (Plus RGS may be a completely wrong school for him in 9-10 years time, you just don't know when they are 3.) Good luck with your choices - it's a confusing but exciting time!