Wetherby Pre-prep Notting Hill

[Mamakins2021]

Hi all! We are deciding on pre-prep schools for our son. I was wondering whether anyone could shed some light on Wetherby NH's exit results in recent years? I have read a post on mumsnet which suggested that Wetherby's academic results are not what they used to be. Are there any current Wetherby NH parents out there or people "in the know" who could comment? Do Wetherby still send about 30% of their boys at 7+ and 8+ to Westminster Under and St Paul's Juniors? Wetherby's website just gives an amalgamation over the past five years and since the figures have not changed since I first looked about a year ago does not seem to have been updated either. Exit results are not the be all and end all to us, and we are not sure whether our son would end up being Westminster/St Paul's material in any event, but it would be helpful to our decision-making to have all the facts! I don't want to come across as a "Tiger Mom" type so am reluctant to ask the school directly! Any other comments/opinions as to Wetherby NH would be very helpful!

Bumping this- hope there is someone out there who can help!?

You are a paying customer. Why would you not ask about leavers’ destinations? That’s what a pre-prep is for, to get its students to their desired prep schools.

Lots of London pre preps have started amalgamating results - usually to disguise a “bad” year. It shouldn’t stop you asking them the question directly though: how many Y2s and Y3s went on to school X this year?

I would say though - having recently been through a London pre-prep - that I am doubtful how much credit the school can really claim for their results. Wetherby for example is non-selective
at 4+ - so it’s really sheer luck whether a particular year group contains lots of boys likely to do well as six or seven year olds in hyper-competitive entrance exams. No pre-prep can transform a late developer or a non-academic child in two years into a child who will succeed in the WUS or SJPS process, and any that suggest otherwise are fibbing.

Of course it’s a numbers game too - schools like Wetherby will have more boys going onto WUS etc than a state primary will, simply because they enter more boys for the exams, because Wetherby parents can afford WUS fees. None of that is to do with how well boys are taught. If WUS were needs-blind, the results could get interesting....

Thanks @thingaling… I will be brave and ask! I take your point that exit results are not necessarily indicative of the quality of the teaching at a particular school. Though it is so hard from the outside to judge teaching quality. Is there anyone out there with any insight as to how the teaching quality at Wetherby compares to that at other similar schools (eg The Hall, Eaton House Belgravia, Falkner House boys etc)?

OP - most prep’s results aren’t what they used to be as there is an ever increasing competition for senior schools.

If you are choosing among kensington schools - Wetherby is still the most thought for destination. They have a good track record, good teaching and facilities. And benefit of middle/upper school, as a back up.
EHB is comparable. Possibly a little more pressured.
FHB is newer and smaller, so it’s really harder to compare the results yet.

As to choosing between the Hall vs Wetherby… I think it’s more down to where you prefer to live. Both schools have long histories and reputation. Choosing between them based exit results of a specific year/years doesn’t really make much sense. For the reasons already mentioned above.

The Hall discourages 7+ while this is an option with Wetherby. If you go to the Hall you are there till 13+

Go for The Hall over Wetherby. Wetherby is owned by Alpha Plus Group who are trying to squeeze every penny to turn it into a profit making business.

Thanks all! I have heard really good things about the Hall, though think I prefer the flexibility of a 7+ school since it will allow us to see what DS's strengths are and choose a school which is a good fit for him for the 7-13 period. Also we won't find out until relatively late in the process whether DS actually has a place at the Hall since they do a 4+ assessment which would make it difficult to plan.

I second what @thewashingmachine says about Wetherby. I do not trust the private equity owners of such schools at all. They spout a lot of waffle about investing in education but fundamentally it’s about making as much money as they can out of parents for as long as they can. If and when the gravy train stops, they will close or merge the schools and sell the property for redevelopment.

OP, I think you won’t be disappointed if it’s stats you’re after. Generally speaking, the boys at Wetherby are very happy and it is one of the best pre-preps in London. The Headmaster is beyond amazing and the results are stellar. I have friends with children at the Hall who are also very happy indeed so it comes down to your desired exit strategy.

OMG @TheWashingMachine and @thingaling, I once worked with Alpha Plus group. They somehow manage to have the best teachers and staff you can find, attentive, Oxbridge, know their work etc. but they complained about low pay and others left because APG does not give discounts for students of staff - that gave me the red flags right there.

They also do not give any discounts to locals. Also a friend then, had three boys at the school and said there were no discounts.

Seen other signs as well that this group is money grabby.

I wouldn't expect a discount on fees just because I lived locally or had more than one child at the school. I haven't come across any other popular preps/pre-preps offering such discounts so don't think that is unreasonable, but take your point that the school is run as a business for a profit.

I think that falls under community responsibility (both within the school and locally). It's something I look at .

I don’t know about discounts for locals - given where Wetherby schools are, you need at least a few mil to live locally so it’s hardly helping the poor and needy. Bursaries for families who flat out can’t afford the fees would be a better measure of CSR.

But discounts for multiple siblings aren’t unreasonable - lots of schools offer a small discount to encourage repeat purchasing - and it’s bad form and bad business not to offer teachers very hefty discounts on their children’s school fees. That is a classic sign of private equity - I know of that happening elsewhere too.

This is what I'm saying, that I tend to shy away from schools or organisations that seem to show neglect for their staff and community.

Let alone the normal workers who are 'relatively well off' , but too poor for private schools, you will be aware that just up the road from Wetherby are council estates with very poor communities. As it happens in central London, it's dotted with council estates. A lot of conscientious schools will help the local community by giving a start to local clever children - even the smaller, less known Connaught House down the road has bursaries and sibling policy. Some schools will try to help a local parent who may have say mobility or other health or even work issues that mean the child must attend a school very close to home.

Unfortunately avoiding private equity/hedge fund owned prep schools is getting harder and harder in London. Between Alpha Plus and Duke's Education it is a huge majority of schools in London. Both are buying up schools scarily fast- especially Dukes.

Both do not pay and reward staff well and are focused on profit driving. But what can parents do? There isn't space in the other schools for everyone.

I agree Dotty. I also wonder how the Competition Authority is not looking at these people's grab of all the normal private schools in and around London. They are building empires and they are not really interested in the day to day provision of education but more on 1) filling up the schools as long as you can pay the fees, 2) increasing fees, 3) lowering costs, including benefits for their already lowly paid employees. Really sad to see.

We did both a private London preprep owned by private equity, and a London state primary, and were really fed up. It is a rat race in which nobody wins except the private equity companies, and churches who extract attendance and donations from parents desperate to get their children into VA schools. The pressure on kids is ridiculous - six year olds should not be doing an hour of homework every night, tutoring and taking high pressure exams. I actually saw someone on a local parents group the other day asking about a tutor for their 2 year old.

After years of this nonsense, the solution we have found is to send DS as a weekly boarder to a country prep. The boys are outdoors for lots of the day (unlike his London schools which had no outside space), they do games every day, there are loads of extra curricular activities on site, and the staff are very well looked after and allowed to send their children to the school. We don’t waste hours commuting across London to school or between extra-curricular activities anymore, and we don’t need to worry about homework or nannies or after school care. Also the admissions assessment didn’t require any special preparation or tutoring, so it took all that stress and pressure away. He is much happier now, and when he comes home at the weekend we have proper quality time.

2021 7+ intake WUS 5 boys
I would assume this number is higher for St.Paul’s because they take more boys at 7+.

Thanks @Worriedmum142. Assuming that is out of a year group of about 80 boys and more will then leave at 8+ to Westminster Under and Paul's Juniors?

@Mamakins2021 yes, that is correct. If you want to do your own Math for 2021 7+ and 8+ go the support discussion on mumsnet from last year. Some made it to St.Paul’s and will be able to give you the right number.
However to echo the previous opinions I am pretty sure that the boys who pass the 7/8+ pass because of their abilities and the parental push/involvement. There is no special potion in Wetherby. I know many Wetherby parents and they opinion strongly varies on the abilities of the school to prepare for the 7+/8+. Obviously this depends on whether the respective son made or not. Every parent I know think it is a good school.