International Family Moving to London and No School Placement!?!

[EuroMom]

My family is moving to London for partner's work assignment in early 2022. We don't know a single person in London and have no connection to schools. Do you need a connection to get in to a private school?

We have inquired with over 15 private schools in London area and not a single one has placement for ANY of my kids for early 2022 (mid school year). Any recommendations on how I should go about getting all my kids in a school? We are years 2, 5, 7 and moving from Europe with American roots. We have not found a home in London as I thought it would be easier to find the schools first then find the home second so we don't limit ourselves too much.

I have read that placing your kid in a public/state school has it's own headache as many are waitlisted and they will not even entertain the idea of your kid in a school till you are physically in the new location then the wait could be 9+ months...?

How to people who move to London from abroad get their children settled in a school? Thank you.

Dear Euromom, I understand that it is really difficult to get admissions into schools. Did you try Hall School Wimbledon? It is a small school, - co-ed and non selective -very nurturing and with excellent pastoral care. My kids also joined mid-year. And the admissions procedures were stress free and fairly easy. It has both the Junior and senior school on one site and school transport is available. So you do not have to worry about getting them to school. Regarding fees you can ask for a siblings' discount. And Wimbledon station and Raynes Park stations are 12 mins walk from the school and there are also bus routes serving this area. Why don't you contact them and ask for a virtual meeting or virtual tour of the school? I am sure this is possible. As a current parent, we can have virtual meetings with the headmaster or meet him in school if we email him. Hope this helps.

@EuroMom: if you could list which schools you have already contacted then people could suggest other schools that you have to tried yet.
Re. private schools in Fulham area, have you contacted Fulham School
www.fulham.school/contact-us?gclid=Cj0KCQiA47GNBhDrARIsAKfZ2rDjVO9ciVpoqLIgqWjPuNJT_EFaVV0e-H0ZRfy-VXQOfh5Ij4vWbvcaArngEALw_wcB.
They start from pre-prep and go all the way to six form so might have places for all your children.

@EuroMom: in Chiswick area have you contacted Ravenscourt Park school? www.rpps.co.uk/about-us/senior-schools
They also have senior schools in the group.
Other two schools I can think of are in Chelsea: Redcliffe School and Hampshire School.

Hi you could contact the good schools guide who have educational consultants who can contact schools for you , arrange visits etc
We used them in the past and they managed to find places for my dc at very short notice
Not cheap but hopefully your husbands employer can stump up?
Good luck

I think the big question is whether you want to send them to private school or not. Your eldest will be going into the first year of secondary school and so, if you send them private now, you'll be paying those fees until they have done GCSEs, if not the end of the Sixth Form
With your middle child, you could send them to private until the end of Yr6 and then move them to state or keep them at private
Then there's the decision as to whether you ideally want single sex or co-ed - and what impact that has on the number of schools you're looking at.
If you are thinking private - even if only for the eldest - then it might be an idea to work with an agent as they are joining at an unusual time.
If you're looking at state, then it might be a case of talking to the councils and seeing who has space and where. Anecdotally, there still seems to be a lot of movement in London as people move out post Covid.

If your husband is commuting into Paddington, then you could live anywhere on the Chiltern line such as Gerrard’s Cross, Amersham, Chalfont St Peter’s. This would open up options for you and I doubt the private schools would be full.

Did you look at Maida Vale school or Portland Place (for the older two)? There is of course the American School nearby if you want to keep them in the US system.

For boys, perhaps Wetherby or Abercorn and St Christina’s for girls.

@Timeforwinterclothes

Kent has a fast train service to St Pancras which is near Paddington. There are lots of excellent private schools in cities like Canterbury and a reasonable train journey time. Kent also has the grammar school system.

St Pancras is not “near” Paddington, it’s a twenty minute tube ride once you count in getting through two busy commenter stations. And getting to Paddington from Kent would be a nightmare journey. A busy commute by train (after driving to the station and finding somewhere to park) then a tube journey across the capital with changes, far too many opportunities for something to go wrong!

Travelling from south London to the Paddington area is not the easiest journey either.

I would be looking at places to live/ schools to the west of London.

If you don’t mind not living in London you can widen your search to the commuter areas which go into Paddington - eg Slough, Maidenhead, Twyford, Reading even Newbury. Reading to Paddington is only 25 minutes, Slough and Maidenhead is even less.

It's possibly a bit late now but I would have employed a relocation consultant/property search agent. You clearly have a hefty budget and imo it is money well spent. It is part of their job to be able to advise on schools as well as homes.

Finding a house and school places for 3 children in a huge foreign city that you aren't even living in is practically impossible without some paid-for help.

Due to transfers out of London a lot of smaller very good private schools have open places. I agree with previous posters that the very top London Schools will be full. Year 7 will be the trickiest part of your search as its an admission year and unlikely to have an occasional vacancies in stand alone secondary schools.

The options below are in London and should work for your max commute:

1. Sydenham Girls School may be worth ringing. Its unlikely they have places in year 7 but they might make an exception if they have space in the lower years and try to work with you as a family. You could live in Dulwich which would be within the commute you've outlined via Herne Hill Station which goes into Elephant & Castle and you could pick up the Bakerloo line from there. Alternatively, you could commute into London Bridge via North Dulwich station and take the jubilee line to Baker Street and then transfer to the Bakerloo line to Paddington.

You might have to mix and match though as one school simply might not be able to cover you all. I know there are spaces in Dulwich Village Infant School and Dulwich Hamlet which are outstanding state options for your younger children. The space is due to families moving out of London post-Covid to the country.

If you have a boy, Dulwich Prep London would be worth contacting, particularly for the year 7 place. They go to 13 and lose boys at 11+ and so are more likely to have space in year 7 which isn't a major entry point for them. Other preps that go to 13 that might be in a similar situation are Thomas Battersea and Newton Prep.

I hope that helps.

If you provide the gender of your children people can also provide more specific options that could work based on knowledge of local schools.

Actually quite a lot of state schools will have places -- rolls have decreased in many areas of london as a result of people moving out following brexit/Covid. But you need an address. We recently moved abroad from London but our children's (excellent) primary in Archway has spaces in every year and they are v experienced in settling children arriving mid year.

If you want to go private and have the cash, I would call Gabbitas or a similar agency. You can pay extra for an "emergency" service for a quick placement: they know which private schools currently have spaces and in what years. They offer a bit of a reduction for helping with multiple siblings.

I would definitely look outside London in Berkshire and Buckinghamshire.

It would be useful to know gender of DC. A lot of private schools are single sex as are state secondaries. Primary schools are generally mixed. The idea to contact an agency is good because the 11+ process (for the older one) is already underway. Entrance exams have happened (interviews are next).

The British school system can be a nightmare to negotiate at the best of times, and moving from overseas mid-year with children of ages to need different schools makes it even worse (been there, done that).

If you have the budget, I would second the recommendation for using a consultant. I'd try these people (I know someone who used to work for them, they really know their stuff): www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/education-consultants/services/our-services

@TuftyMarmoset

If you don’t mind not living in London you can widen your search to the commuter areas which go into Paddington - eg Slough, Maidenhead, Twyford, Reading even Newbury. Reading to Paddington is only 25 minutes, Slough and Maidenhead is even less.

Yes, this. Very easy commute from these areas into Paddington (no tube required) and lots of good schools. If you say whether you have girls or boys people can make suggestions.

Alternatively if you want to be in London I’d think about Maida Vale/St John’s Wood and then you have all the North London schools.

Have you spoken to the American School? www.asl.org/admissions/prospective-families- Definitely worth a chat with them about what they can offer.

This blogger is a US expat who made the move to the U.K. and wrote about the school system and applying. She has some really great advice, both practical and emotional!!

abroadpurpose.com/

Gurl you need a school consultant. You aren't going to figure this out on your own.

Hi, I am looking for schools and I think there is plenty of spaces in private schools. Issue is most schools don’t go up too 18, or are not co-Ed , or don’t have a nursery…. So be open to finding a school first for the older ones and leave the nursery for last, once you are in town. G luck!! (Tons of school have vacancies now as lots of people left due to covid and brexit)

I’d be looking at the towns along the train lines out of Paddington. To the West and North West of London.

There is a lot of movement of families at the moment OP so I’d be amazed if you can’t find private places for the prep school age kids at least. That said, I know of one private prep in Fulham that is closing which may be causing a bit of pressure locally in the Fulham/Putney area.

@EuroMom

No, I have not tried outside London. How do I find a list of private schools in the suburbs of London?

Partner will be working near Paddington Station, wanted to limit commute to 45-55 min. On initial glance I thought living in the Putney, Chiswick, Fulham area would give many options for schools...

@EuroMom there are quite a private schools few in Ealing area. 10-14 mins on train to Paddington from Ealing Broadway, West Ealing, Hanwell every 10-15 mins. Have a chat to st Benedicts (coeducational 3-18), st Augustine (girls 3-17) NHEHS (girls 3-18) and Durston (boys to 13). Also avenue house is I think cooed 3-11 and one next to durston for girls I can't remember the name of. Ealing W5 and W13 postcodes as well as W7 are nice and quite leafy plenty of good state schools too.

Op have a look at the site locrating.com it can show you on a map where schools are, colour coded for age and if state / private.

My advice to you is look at the train lines that go into Paddington (these will be weat of London) cross reference that with the locrating map to identify schools along that trainline, then start calling around those schools.

We did a mid-year transfer to private but it took two months, they were so slow!

If you do go the state route it is very common to call and see who has soaces before you move to an area. Yes you have to have an address there and proof to get the place goven to you, but it isn’t quite true that you have to move before contacting state schools.

Hi @EuroMom that sounds stressful but not to worry, as others have noted, there is quite a bit of movement in and out of London at the moment. Have you checked the blog www.londonpreprep.com already? It has a lot of useful info on Central London state and private schools.