Thomas's Fulham vs Glendower vs Ken Prep

[ChelseaYummyMummy]

Hi there, would love to get some advice on which school to choose for my daughter! She has a place at Thomas's Fulham (received in the ballot) and we have to decide by the end of next week, but won't know about Glendower/Ken Prep until January when she sits the assessment.
Would LOVE to hear from any mums with kids at Thomas's Fulham - are you happy with it? And more widely, what would anyone recommend in this situation. Thank you so much in advance!

We are in a similar situation to you - we have an offer for Thomas's Fulham and have an assessment at KP. KP is our preference as the leaving results appear to be much better. It is such a shame that KP is no longer part of the West London Prep School Consortium as we had intended to take the place at Thomas's and then wait to see if DD got a place at KP and if she did, we could get the Thomas's deposit refunded. So we are now faced with losing the deposit at Thomas's if we take up a place at KP :(. They're both very good schools, so ultimately DD will be happy at either but our preference is KP. We will probably end up paying the deposit at Thomas's just to be assured of a place but hope that DD gets a place at KP.

Hi, we are in a similar boat, we got an offer from Thomas's fulham and Ken prep. We also have a 2 year old boy though so thinking what is better for each child vs what is better for logistics, quality of education, the 2 drop offs in 2 years time..Do people have any thoughts, advice?

Congrats, Humililty! We got Ken Prep, so was pleased that we didn't pay the nearly 3k deposit for Thomas's in the end. What decided it for me and my husband was that we didn't like the way Thomas's did their ballot so needlessly early, then demanded a (hefty) deposit when it was impossible to weigh up offers from other schools. This just seemed unreasonable and unhelpful. I also don't like the way Thomas's hike the fees after 7 - it's significantly more expensive than KP. And the leavers' destinations seemed unimpressive. Lastly, not sure I'm keen on the 'empire sprawling' nature of Thomas's - there are so many schools in the fold and I wonder whether there's a somewhat cookie cutter approach to their education? Anyway, we turned down Thomas's and will probably send DD to Ken Prep, but am considering the local CofE primary school if she gets a place since it's outstanding, super close, and FREE! But I do really like KP, and I think my DD would do better in an all girls' environment.

Well done @ChelseaYummyMummy. I can totally understand the free approach, it would have my preferred route but we not CofE or catholic so...it ends up being pay or pray..so we might have to pay.
I understand what you mean about the sprawling empire of thomas's but somehow if they say they focus on the 'happiness' of the child so it's wholistic learning rather than just academic..I am not sure so much academic pressure so early on is that great for a child. My main doubt is also that at Thomas's our girl might see a range of behaviour (meaning from very active and loud to very gentle and soft) and I wonder if in an all girls environment I am not sure she will get that range. And even though it's not academic learning, the world is men and women so dealing with both sexes I thought might be helpful.
Any further thoughts would be much appreciated.

No brainer- should go with Ken Prep if the child is academic. And for someone who made the mistake of going to an outstanding rated state school I can confidently say that there is absolutely nothing a state school can offer that would compare to all that a decent private school has to offer at that level. They are miles ahead of us in every aspect. It's a shame but its true. Good luck.