Help selecting a pre-prep for my friend’s daughter

[Sofiaest]

Dear all,
I have a friend who will be relocated to London from September. Her daughter is due to start reception next year. They haven’t decided which area in London yet, as their main focus for now is the school. They are looking into few top prep schools in Richmond Old Vic, Chiswick Orchard House, Kingston Holy Cross and Wimbledon Village The Study. Please please if you know a reason to apply or not to apply to any of these school let me know and I will pass this over.
Thank you very much

@Sofiaest , they are all good. Holy Cross is Catholic. Orchard House is owned by a schools group called Dukes Education.
It depends where she wants to live, the Old Vicarage is good if she is living within walking distance.
Most of the schools break up for the summer holiday next week so your friend needs to start speaking to the prep schools regarding if they have space for her dd today.

@Sofiaest, by next year do you mean Sept 24 or Sept 25? If Sept 25 then go on housing because south west London is full of excellent prep schools and none of them are full. (It's due to a variety of factors but the election next week won't help due to VAT being added to private school fees).

I think they need to start by finding out which schools have a space for the year they want. This means calling/emailing each school and asking.

As pp says, pressure for places has eased off compared with 5/6 years ago, there are spaces available, but nonetheless some of the most sought after preps are full for Sep 24 and 25.

There are loads of good prep schools in W and SW London so if I were them I wouldn’t get too hung up on a particular school. I don’t think there are any that are so much better than others that they are worth choosing an area for. Once they have established where there are spaces, I would then look at the overall area - housing, transport, traffic, green space, vibe - and decide where they want to live.

Thank you and they are looking for September 2025. Is there any other reason for pre-prep school to have spaces, rather that the VAT being added?

Thank you and if have a personal experience to one of these school, please share with me. Thank you

The pre prep schools are not full because of lots of factors including
Falling birth rate
Movement of families from London to outside London during the pandemic
Excellent state primary provision especially in Borough of Richmond
Private secondary schools making it clear that you don't need to go to a private prep school to go to a private secondary, many aim for 50% intake at least from state sector at age 11.
Lots of space in prep schools so you can transfer from state to private prep at a later date than reception so saving on fees

For example if your friend is considering the Old Vicarage then she can also consider The Vineyard primary state school almost next door. Kings House prep is also going co-Ed. That is 3 options all within a short distance of a house on Richmond hill.

Go on area to live, commute, housing costs and then school.

Thank you! This is an interesting information!