Wetherby Senior.

I have no doubt that Wetherby Senior School will be successful as there really is a need for another boys day school in London. I do have my reservation about the school though for various reasons.

First, whilst Wetherby prep has been successful in growing and having a decent range of results, it is not in the same league as the top or just below league of prep schools in London. It does serve the population of boys which it takes in in an adequate fashion, but its broad range of results is obscured by the enormous amount of tutoring which goes on for 11+ and 11+ pre test. This is not unique to Wetherby, but it is so very prevalent there.

The Senior school will struggle even more so as the great majority of the very academic and highly academic boys will have chosen the established names. This leaves them with a very different pool of applicants than the one who will choose schools like Latymer Upper or CLSB, which are long established schools with support systems and cultures already in practice. It definitely will not be in Latymer's league as Latymer's appeal is to those who choose an academic co-educational school and is getting stronger each year as this is an idea which is increasingly popular, particularly with the influx of people from places where single sex education is seen as strange.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to cater for those children whose strengths are not necessarily academic, and there is the greatest need for this kind of school in London. My scepticsm arises from the fact that off-the-bat, Alpha Plus will charge a premium price for a school which has not proven to have premium results. I do know about the parent organization behind Alpha Plus, and its rationale for getting into the schools was the (and I am paraphrasing here) the guaranteed 5% increase in profits a year. No matter how good the school, this ethos does not sit well with me.

We will be trying for Westminster, City and Latymer but will now throw Wetherby into the pot. It's great to have another to add to the list for Central London.

The children I know who have tried were from cameron house and westminster under. All three have places

It won't be competing with Latymer imminently, but there is a big under served market for boys a notch below that.

Thanks Michaelahpurple. We are shortlisting senior schools and would like to stay central. Do you think it will be competing with City and Latymer off the bat ? How rigorous have people found the selection process ? Has the intake for September mainly been from the prep ?

I know a few people whose boys have sat for places and rumour has it they have increased the numbers joining in September. You can't go and see it until September as another school is in there now, so perhaps they will up the marketing then

Nick baker is great , my favourite head of the London schools I have visited.

Does anyone have any more information on the new senior school? There is very little information on the web site. I understand it is opening in September.

Hi LB
The Wetherby Pre Prep website says approx 30% of each year group goes on to the Prep. I'm surprised it's not higher. Boys leave at the end of yr2 and 3 and go to Westminster Under, Colet Court plus all the usual suspects for boarding prep schools.

We have been looking at girls boarding schools and they have all been commenting that the number of girls sitting assessments has started to rise again after several years of recession hit numbers, so maybe this will take a tiny bit of pressure of some of the London day schools if it applies to the boys too. The whole system has become ridiculous with the only winners seemingly being the tutoring industry.

I think Wetherby will be a success in the long term - there is a need for more boys schools but as with all schools that are starting from the beginning there will be some risk, but when you weigh it up, Wetherby will want to make it a success in order to give their parent body the option of a 4-18yr education with no angst around entrance exams along the way. I'm surprised there is not more info on their website - if they want people to get a feel for the ethos etc they should be raising the profile on the website.

Good luck to your DS for his entrance exams.

Isn't the point that there is serious competition for boys places in established schools in West London. KCS, SPS and Westminster are very selective and schools like Latymer Upper, KGS and Hampton, increasingly so.

Fewer boys want to board and there will be the demand. Parents may favour the better known and proven options, or schools with better facilities, but, frankly, not all will get places. It sounds as if Wetherby could provide a useful fall-back to newly arrived expatriates, the less academic or late developers, or those wanting to switch from state to Indi.

This need for facilities is odd. In the past girls went to small central London schools without great facilities (Queensgate, Queens College, More House etc) whilst their brothers boarded. If boys don't want to board, and don't get into one of the more established schools, they may have to accept the equivalent facilities that their sisters get.

Look at the other senior schools/colleges in the Alpha Plus Group to get a sense of how much clout the head will have versus input from Group level. The Colleges in Manchester, Birmingham, Cambridge and London don't do so well academically but there again, they tend to be full of kids who have failed first time round.

Their primary schools are well favoured in part due to their celebrity and royal links but in my opinion, the senior schools don't fare as well as parents tend to favour the better known proven options.

It is curious how poor many schools are at customer focus - such an obvious area to tackle , but so neglected.

Wetherby's track record in building their prep school over the last decade is pretty impressive and lord knows another boys' option is needed in central London.

I would in abstract have said that I was less keen on schools run as businesses but have found it hard not to be impressed by the efficiency and client-focus of Wetherby. They have identified what their parents want and they deliver it. It seems to be the only prep which understands the power of good communications with parents.

All suggests well worth considering, although inevitably a bit of a flyer given first cohort issues (although I expect they will recruit at 11 and 13 to help a quick roll out) and that secondary is more complex than prep.