Tiffin Girls vs indies

The cohort is super hard-working and basically ace all tests (which are relentless). Little feedback for parents. Behaviour very good.
DD says the girls are more "normal" economically and less chat about expensive holidays etc than when she was at prep. I suspect all have pushy parents that (that's probably me too), but anyway homework demands are high.
Sports teams for the top talents only, and far far more emphasis on academics anyway. She does chilled sport at weekends/eve instead.
Music pretty good, from the concerts I've seen.

There are also additional costs that you need to budget for e.g at independent schools, parents are charged for the examination entry fees (around 600 for 10 GCSEs), DOE expeditions are close to 1000 for the Gold award and at some schools parents pay for tickets to watch their children perform in music or drama.

At state schools, theses costs do not arise...

Agree about the lack of diversity of socio-economic backgrounds, although a lot of independent schools are increasing their bursary programmes to improve this. The issue is that some schools are not very thorough with their process and the bursary fund is used to support families who couldn't be considered disadvantaged.

The diversity of socio-economic backgrounds within a school is so important for character education. This does vary depending on the cohort, but it is wearing when a trend develops for using £3000 designer handbags as school bags.

I would not say that teachers with the much better salaries in top private schools are the same as in grammar schools with limited funding even for teaching tools

I think you have to decide exactly what you are buying:
—better academics? Tiffin will be on a par with the private schools you have mentioned. Classes may be larger but that is less important when you have a group of very bright, highly motivated students.
-extra curricular: Privates will be better resourced but will your DD actually want to access most of what is offered? If she does v high level music or sport for example she will be better off in specialist/ outside school settings. These are easily accessible if you live in London.
-peer group: private schools will be much less socio economically diverse, though probably ethnically quite diverse.
-privileged access to top Universities? No longer the case for private school students.

Once you have decided what you are buying ask yourself is it worth north of £200000? Can you easily afford this? Can you also fund University/house deposits etc?

I think the all round experience at the privates is probably better - but maybe not £200000 worth better.

I have a daughter at one of the schools you mention who also had a place at Tiffin (we came from a state primary though). Two main things swung it for us.

1. Curriculum. Just so much more choice, especially in languages and creative stuff.
2. Having experienced SATs in the state sector, I was keen to get away from feeling like my daughter was just a cog in a machine to demonstrate progress being achieved. It's hard to explain just what an awful joyless experience it was.

Mine wasn't interested in sports so that didn't bother us.

Tiffin Girls is a great choice and it is free. There will be increased fees and cost-cutting at the Private schools you mention over the time that you spend there, no question.

SPGS has already told parents to expect increased class sizes from next year. My DN is at SPGS and the only added value is that she is in class with DC who value their learning. This is what differentiates a secondary school experience in my view, and you don't have to pay for that - there are some excellent state schools where this is the case. She is hoping to move to Harris Westminster for 6th form.

Re: co-curricular offerings - a couple of points here. SPS has a swimming pool but no swim team (just because they have the resource does not mean that your child will access it - sometimes it is used to generate income being rented to outside clubs). Other schools may be deliberately improving there facilities in one area to attract pupils who want to apply to US universities e.g rowing. If your child doesn't row, you are paying for very expensive equipment through your fees, and your child is not getting any benefit from these facilities.

I work in education and have 3 children who have gone through the system at independent and state schools. In my view, you are better to curate your own co-curricular provision with your money, rather than expect an independent school to provide. In addition there are many super curricular / extracurricular courses that are only available to state school children.

If you can afford one of the private girls' schools go for that and leave the Tiffin place (if it is offered) for someone who cannot afford private education. This is what we did when DD2 won places at another grammar school and also Lady Eleanor Hollis.

Teaching will probably be about the same at a school like Tiffin and top independent schools. It’s the class size, facilities and extracurriculars that will differ most.

To add in the state sector the NI/minimum wage increase to school budgets will be met by the tax payer so it won't impact the services provided so much.

You cannot make up your mind until you have the offers, they are all incredibly difficult schools to get places at and you may end up on a waiting list for 1 of them anyway.

The Vat on fees will make Tiffin even harder to achieve a place at. No private school has set the September 2025 fees yet, they are going to be very high to take into account the NI/minimum wage/loss of business rates discount etc. These costs are the costs you will paying for in fees, not music teachers/ swimming pools etc.

If your child is incredibly and amazingly bright , top of her class and she will get to top private schools you listed, and you can afford it without a huge sacrifice then I would not hesitate and stick to private.

There are very bright girls at Tiffin Girls but at the end of the day it is a state grammar school that is underfunded. Grammar schools receive less money per pupil than comprehensive schools. Most of the girls at Tiffin come from state schools in Kingston ( Inner Circle catchment) and some within wider Designated Area that is Sutton, Richmond and other surrounding boroughs.

In top private schools you also have selected cohort sieved through the competitive exams but also the school has money for educational tools, projects. Often there is a pool, there is excellent canteen and many other advantages. Affluent parents additionally fund various initiatives. e.g a very good private school nearby is doing a project with a very well known care maker. They gradually design a car at DT with 3D, frequent visits to factory- awesome.