SW prep school places available after admissions process?! Relocating to London from abroad

[Girlmummy2]

Hi there,
some advice please… we are relocating to London from abroad withing the next 4 months (this is decision that has been made only very recently) and my daughter will be ready to start 4+ in September (she’s currently 3 years old). We will be moving to SW6 and are looking at Prep schools in and around the area. Im inclined to go single sex rather than co-Ed but I understand that I have to keep my options open as we have missed the 4+ admissions for the next school year (2023-24). Does anyone know if there can be places available for children that have relocated? Or is it a blanket “no” until you can reapply the following yr if there happens to be a place available?
have tried Ken prep and Putney but nothing here for now.
How about Bute? This would be my first choice but haven’t approached them yet. I have heard it’s very very hard to get in.
any other tips/advice would be most helpful. This is very stressful not having secured a place anywhere and also as I’m not currently in the UK.
thanks in advance for any help/advice

Bute are lottery for 4+, that happened a long time ago for 4+ Sep 2023 entry, I mean people accepted offers in March 2022! So all offers went out last year . You might be able to go on waitlist, but it would be pointless as so many mums desperate to send their DD's are on there from the original lottery, and we're not talking about a lot of places in the first place.

All the other 'Bute reject' girls prep will be booked up, but you never know if a place might pop up, your playing catch up. Just contact them, they are very approachable, but I suspect your only hope is 7+ entry now, where they tend to select the brightest girls as the 4+ is mixed entry.

Best thing would be to speak to Hammersmith and Fulham council about a state school place so your DD can at least start somewhere, just so you know pretty much all London primaries are of a good standard especially as so many middle class parents choose them because they can no longer afford Prep and are saving for private senior school, waiting out for grammar school.

While you do that, you'll just have to blanket approach all girls preps and if I were you apply to the all the all through girls schools, most of them will want to assess your DD before offering, all of them will have sent offers and have waitlists, BUT this is London, parents lose thier jobs, partners drop dead ( don't mean to be heartless, but it happens) Jobs get moved to New York, etc, so there's always movements - the trouble is you'll probably have to take what's on offer.

'Worst' case is your DD attends a decent enough state primary and a place comes up at a decent Prep or Junior dept of an all through school by year after Reception ( Year 1) You could just settle at state primary allocated ( they are obliged to find somewhere for your child) as long as its fine enough, and go for 7+ at Bute or any private school, when things open up again.

Don't worry too much, years 4-7, be it Bute or local Primary all follow basic same thinig, Early Years Foundation. Mine are at Prep and get broadly the same as their state primary cousins, except mine get a specialist French teacher, Music teacher, smaller classes, better facilities etc, better sport and after school clubs, more school visits and trips. Yes these things are important, but you can make up these things with private clubs and afterschool clubs with the small fortune you're saving in fees.

Bute is a lottery at 4+, you can try for 7+ there. I think the best would be to get into a prep school and move for occasional places or at 7+. Fulham prep and Thomas Fulham are in SW6 but they are coed.
Try and look at the Good school guide online and it gives you the details and location. Also, some schools have school bus options so you can be base in SW6.

As people mentioned above - no chance for Bute. Hill House is well known for accepting students mid year, also Cameron Vale and the Knightsbridge School. You can then prepare your DD for 7+ entry. You can also try Chepstow House - its a really good school but I think they're slightly more relaxed about admissions than Pembridge Hall for example.

Hi OP - might be a bit left field, but Merlin in Putney is a pre-prep that feeds some of the good preps at 7+/8+. In your shoes I'd probably look at taking that route to a selective prep.

OP is late for state schools application, deadline was 15 January.
Does it have to be SW6 post code? Good state schools in SW6 are oversubscribed and private preps are full by now, except maybe Fulham Prep. Thomas's Fulham is full as far as I am aware. They told us they had "unusual number of siblings" and we got a waiting list place despite registering my DS on the first day the registering was open for September 2023.
I would apply for waiting list places to private schools that would agree to put OP to waiting list. Some parents accept multiple places, i.e. pay deposits and then decide on the place closer to September.
If there is a place in Merlin and OP wants it it is better to live on that side of the river.

You can apply late for state school, just put in a late application. Can OP get first choice primary school late? No, but the LEA is obliged by law to find a school for her child somewhere. I'm outside of the state system, but isn't this case??

I agree get yourself on as many waiting lists as possible. As pp say there are always reasons why last minute places crop up, some parents take a place but then ditch it when they get a waiting list spot somewhere they prefer (state or a preferred private). Or job loss, divorce, relocation etc. Yes there may well be others ahead of you on the list but also they will likely be on the waitlist for several schools so will not necessarily take up places if offered.

Primary and prep schools in London are a LOT less oversubscribed than they were a few years ago, combination of Brexit, Covid exodus to the countryside and birth rate dropping off fairly rapidly since 2012. So you may well get lucky. Just don’t be too fussy, these are all good schools.

I had sent you a direct message. I would message all the main preps in Putney, Fulham, Hammersmith, Chelsea. As other posters have said London schools have more movement and are less oversubscribed. Definitely also try Eaton House Girls- the new head is from Bute. We used to commute there from Fulham as there is a school bus from Parsons Green which takes 20 mins. We are now in Clapham and moved because of the school- we love it.

Thank you all for your replies! Looks like I have my work cut out..
appreciate the advice/intel