List of good Prep-schools in South-west,south,and west london

[ranjitha]

Hi,

I am looking for an academic school for my son. Both Private OR public. My son is 4 year old and he will starting his reception in sep 2014.

I have been looking at some of the schools likes KCS,St.Pauls , dulwich etc .... But to be really frank i am very much confused. My first aim is for KCS and then St. Pauls..(who take kids at the age of 7+) I have also herd that getting into these schools is very trickery..

I have also herd that there are feeder schools for these schools like rowan's and squerriel's not sure if there are any more.. Please let me know if u know more of the feeder schools to get into junior Schools...

But school like dulwich take the kids from age 3+ .. So no need to worry about the entrance for these schools i guess. Can you please guide me with some more good acadamic schools schools..

Apart from these i do not have any idea on other schools. So can anybody give me the list of very good academic schools in south-west,west and south of London.

Also i guess i am too late if i am applying for September 2014 private schools. So can anybody let me know if it is still possible and how to proceed ?

Hope this thread will make me clear on the school. Because getting into school is really tricky.. So i would like to keep 6 schools in my list which are really academic so that i will get the place in at least one of them..

Look froward to your responses...

If you want a list of schools, I suggest you get hold of The Good Schools Guide (book on online) as a start point.

Thanks scaevola.. Will do that

No posts.. :(

No posts possibly because you are too late for private and may well be so for state too, so unless you are from overseas it is hard to understand why you have just started thinking about this now

If you are serious you need to contact your local authority urgently to check state deadlines

No posts because actually you need to do the legwork, just as everyone else does on this. Have you made a state school application yet? Most of the 4+ assessments are in the next week or so, and you will have missed the registration deadlines.

Are you planning, and are able to move in the next 8 months? Because if not, then your question needs to be about which prep schools are near you.

I think you also need to be realistic about trying to apply for very competitive private schools - the majority of applicants at 4+ and 7+ do not get in. This does not mean that they are not academically able children, but does reflect the degree of competition to get a place.

For state schools you need to look at your councils website. Make sure that at least one of your schools is one that you have a realistic chance of getting into, otherwise you will end up with a poor school, potentially some distance away.

For private schools, I would go to the library and look at the Independent Schools Handbook (or you can but it from Amazon) and the Good Schools Guide. Be wary about looking at league tables as such for prep schools as they will only list the schools which sit SATS and most preps don't. You are interested in the leavers destinations and scholarship count. But you also need to think about what else you want for your child: would he suit single or co-ed?

Once you have your shortlist of schools, then contact each to see whether you can still register. Once you have a list of schools to which you could apply then use the search facility on Mumsnet to get more info, and ask questions.

I live in South London and could give you information on 30-40 schools, but that is of little use to you if you want to live in SW London, and less use still for West London and it can take well over an hour to travel 6 or 7 miles at peak time, so you really need to concentrate on a much smaller area than all of South, West and South-West London.

For state schools you have one week left to make an on-time application; you can still make a late applications an they have to come up with a place somewhere from whatever places are left after first round allocations to on-time applicants.

There are probably hundreds of schools in the area you've asked about (essentially half of London). I think it would be a good idea to use a published guide to narrow down your preferences, and then ask again about the school's that are making it to your short list.

The feeder schools for KCS are v popular, and you would need to be registered probably from birth
If you are in this area you could look at Willington or Donhead, they do have waiting lists and I'm not sure they prepare directly for 7+, but very good schools

Another possibility is HSW, its an independent and waiting lists not usually an issue. But very different school than the ones you are looking at.

For state schools, you need to apply to your local schools, many of these are oversubscribed and you will only get into religious schools if you attend relevant church.
So where you live is very important

There are no simple responses to your query because the potential list of schools is huge and you just seem to be reeling off random academic schools from the top of your head, not all of which can even be practically reachable for you. You have also posted this question previously and, if I remember correctly, you live in Essex at the moment (or somewhere like that) and were talking about schools in Wimbledon. You were also told then that you are too late for next September for private.

Wanting your child to attend a top, academic school is also well and good but you need to think more about whether such a school is suitable for your son. Does he show signs of being very bright, can you actually get him to school on time every day for any of these schools mentioned? Most importantly, have you applied for state schools where you live NOW and included at least one which you have a realistic chance of getting?

Hi LadyMuck,

Thank you very much for your response. Your message was very helpful. I shall answer your questions one by one and on the same line please let me know more of your inputs on them:

1. I stay in east london and my work place is liverpool street. We have decided that we will be shifting our house based on my son's school and also i shall be applying for a new job nearby. Due to this reason i have kept 3 options for the area i.e south , west , or south west.
2. I have already applied for the near by public school in my area. That is just to be on the safer bet. I am surly not at all interested to put him there.
3. From what i have judged my son , he is less on to sports compared to reading books. This is how he is as of now. But yes i cannot say how he will be in future , it all depended on the school he will be in and the environment he will be in. Hence i have decided to put him to a academic school.
4. If you can give me a fair list of good private schools , both pre-prep and perp schools close to you it will be rally healpful.
5. I have made a list of pre-prep feeder schools : rowans,squirrels and Ducks so of now which feeds KCS,Collet court , dulwich college etc... I still making a list hence wanted some help. I shall be visiting these school this week. I have made a good research about these listed schools.
6. To list the schools which start from 3+ and run upto 11+ or 13+ : dulwich prep london is the only school i know about. Hence i am interested in knowing some more academic schools. Please let me know if you have any idea regarding good academic schools around.

Look forward to your response.

Sigh ... if you have done such good research on these schools, why are you on here asking people for lists of academic schools? And how are you not aware that you needed to register ages ago for entry this September? Do you honestly think that any of these schools are going to have space for your son this year? When other people have been on the waiting list since birth?

To avoid confusion, you should also be aware that the term Public School in the UK actually means private school. The "public" schools you have applied for in your area are known as state schools. But surely there are independent schools in the area where you currently live which your son could attend and which would still give him the opportunity to try for one of the more academic schools at 7+ (although the situation with closed waiting lists may well be the same there).

What about Denmead feeds into Hampton. Or the Mall Twickenham. Further out Staines prep may have space, send quite a few to Hampton. As others have said many schools will already be full. Why not stay put, use your local school and tutor to get into a school at 7 or 8 plus ,by then you may have a better idea how bright he is. Most schools have a lot of play in the early years even very academic ones.
Going to an academic pre prep doesn't guarantee. a place at an academic senior school.
Also bear in mind property is very expensive in West/ SW London. On your side of town you have schools like City of London ,Brentwood, Forest www.guardian-series.co.uk/education/east_london_education/east_london_schools/

Another option is to go down the grammar route. Schools such as QE boys, latymer, tiffin , Wilson, Sutton boys. All these schools are very hard to get into . Going to a prep won't really help. Most pupils are tutored ++++ to get in unless very bright. There are also grammars in chelmsford . Easy access to Liverpool street. You could stay put for now and think about moving over next few years.

Bancrofts is the other academic school I was trying to think of on you side of town

Hi ranjitha, try The Roche school in Wandsworth. My ds is there and last years leavers had 4 offers from KCS (the most of any prep school according to KCS's headmaster at a talk he gave at the school recently - 3 accepted, one went to Tiffin instead). They often have space as they are not that well known and have only become more academic over the last few years - take a look at their Good School's Guide entry for more info. Three of my ds's friends have gone to KCS from the Roche and if your ds is academic it will prepare him well.

Here's the list of this year's leavers - I honestly don't think you will have any problem getting a place too if you contact them fairly soon and ask to take a look around. Good luck!

therocheschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Leavers-List-2016-Final.pdf

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