Waiting times for private school

[Samsyd]

Hi, I have a two year old now and looking to enquire about private schools. Just wondering if anyone knows how long the waiting times are? I am looking at schools in Altrincham- bowdon prep, Hale prep etc

TIA

Waiting for what though?

Sorry should have said in the post, for admission. I am assuming for place to start.

Each school may well have hugely different waiting times - some may not have any (i.e. they still have a couple of spaces left) and others may have a waiting list. I know of at least one near us who will open another class in a specified year once they get to a number on a waiting list, as financially they can't do it until then. Speak to each school separately.

It varies from you seem to need to register the day/month of birth (bits of London, based on reading threads on here) to you could probably get away with the day before term starts if you can source uniform in time. Check with the schools.

For reception, my DD needed register at birth in London to have any meaningful chance of getting in, others allowed reg up to a year before admission ( with assessments ) So it's vital you contact each and every school and know their procedure, it should all be online anyway.

In my experience Oxfordshire unless you are looking at the big public school primary feeders, most have spaces for nursery and this gives you a free pass into reception. Joining at reception or definitely later up the school may be a bit more of a challenge. At 2 I think you should be fine x

Probably more likely to get the answer by contacting the schools you're considering!

Just contact the schools? Some crazy London pre preps might want you to register at birth but it would be normal to register 12 months ahead of the entry you're after.

Round here you could join most prep schools next week if you wanted to. Definitely call and ask!

We were looking for a nursery place for DS when he was about two and one rather snooty nursery (attached to a prep) declared that they were full as children has been registered since xx date. I snorted and asked if the children had even been born then. Some people have no sense of humour.

I worked in one place where there was a nursery and one mum told me that she actually sent her husband out of the the maternity hospital after birth to register the kiddo at a local prep school. I was 😮. She was telling him ‘tell them that WE are the type of family they want!’ They were pretty keen… (New York wealthy with very sharp elbows).