Lady Eleanor Holles or Latymer Upper School

Di - I have to say, I've never looked around LEH as I have boys. I do have a DS at LU in the Midfle School years. He was offered a place at Hampton too, so similar choice some years ago. I would say the main factors for consideration are -

• do you want your DD to be travelling by coach to and from school for the next 5-7 years. Yes it's safe, but can also be a bit stifling or problematic if you don't like someone on the coach. Hampton boys will be on the LEH coaches too.

LEH is not really near any cafes where pupils can easily hang out after school (especially if they have to get in the coaches). At LU there is a lot of "hanging out" because the have Hsmmersmith and Chiswick in their doorstep. Nearly all travel to and from school independently in tubes / buses. They are a more streetwise, "Londoncentric" bunch as a result.

There are all types at LU, but in general they are all quite confident types. This could be a but overwhelming for a quieter child. I know of two super bright but more "bookish" girls from my DS' prep who were interviewed for LU, but then not offered places, which was a surprise tbh. They both went to LEH and love it.

LEH has slightly higher numbers if A star grades, but tbh the academic differences between these schools are pretty meaningless. They are all more than capable of getting the best out of your child academically. For instance, there are 10 maths sets at LU, but they are pretty much all expected to get at least an A grade. DS knows various girls who turned down places at SPGS because they wanted co-ed and now they are happily average at LU.

LU has a quite urban, fast paced atmosphere. It can be a bit of a "cool school".

LU does not feel academically pressured in years 7 and 8. It seems to step up a bit after this though, but it's still fine. Homework is very manageable and not given out for the sake of it. The curriculum is dynamic and absolutely fantastic. It is an incredibly forward-looking school and always looking to innovate.

I think LEH may be a bit more nurturing possibly?

Anyway, those would be my thoughts. Good luck!

Thank you so much Alwaysfrank for your post, very helpful.
We too are trying to decide mainly between LU, LEH and KGS. Dd also has an offer from Putney High school but we will probably go with one of the above three schools. She really likes KGS but we think that in the long run LU or LEH being bigger schools might be a better fit.
We try not to put much weight on league tables but because we kind of like all schools equally, I looked this time more carefully at the GCSE results and while KGS is improving, LU's 2016 results slided down. I wonder if this is just a regular fluctuation. LEH's results, on the other hand, are consistently strong which is not very surprising as I found the school quite regimental.
We are leaning towards LU for the co-ed factor but I don't like that phones are allowed there, I think it's a huge distraction (imagine how productive we would be without our phones!). Also, I wonder if boys tend to be academically much stronger in co-ed schools and if many girls would be sealed to be in the lower streams because of that.
We would really appreciate any further parents' and alumni's opinions and advice. Thank you!

I'm a current parent at LU and a former parent at LEH. I used to say that LU felt it had more "personality" as a school than LEH. That said, the new head at LEH is likely to have had an impact now - she only arrived for my daughter's final year.

Both schools are great and will give your daughter fabulous opportunities. The biggest difference for me is the location. We are also in the middle but the LEH social life for my daughter was more Hampton/Kingston/Esher based whereas at LU, lots of children live quite centrally so expect friends to live in Chelsea, Kensington etc rather than the more suburban demographic at LEH.

LEH plays lacrosse and netball, LU is hockey and netball. Standard is likely to be higher at LEH as there is a bigger pool of girls to pick from.

If you think your daughter might be interested in rowing, the LU boathouse is on site and there is no extra charge for rowing. LEH charges an additional termly fee and the boathouse is in Lower Sunbury and pretty inaccessible by public transport I think- so expect to drive there a lot!

Lovely choice to have, good luck!