N London private school places for returning expats

[foodfairy]

We've been offered a great posting overseas for 2 - 5 years. I've got 3 kids, aged 7, 5 and 3 and I'm a bit worried about getting them back into school over here. I really don't won't to be doing 3 school runs.

They are at state school right now, but expect we will go private when we get back. Does anyone know about trying to get into North London private schools outside of the usual 3, 7, 11, 13 entrance points? Do they have spare spaces? Thanks.

It's impossible to predict (sorry). But yes, there are always people moving in and out of London so ad hoc places do come up.

Thanks for replies. I was hoping/dreaming maybe they were a bit more flexible if a family was returning. Have already written off state schools as impossible.

It's putting me off moving abroad as don't really want to end up with 3 school runs, but neither do I want to pay a fortune to a school I'm slightly underwhelmed by. Guessing Highgate, UCS, South Hampstead Channing all pretty tricky then? Mill Hill? Anywhere else?

You'll just have to ring around and see which private schools have places. You could be really organised, get a map of the N London area with the schools on (there are LOTS of independent schools round here) and automatically discount the ones that are full/put you off. Lots of the schools seem to have sibling policies, just like state, but you might even get discounts off the fees.