Dulwich Prep London Vs Eaton House Manor

[YetAnotherAnxiousMum]

Hello All - this is my first post and would really appreciate your inputs x
My son has received offers from Dulwich Prep and Eaton House Manor to start nursery in Sep 2024.

We will be relocating in either case to be close to the school given we are currently in North Greenwich. Our budget is maximum £1.1 million and we work in central London.

We like both the schools and are unable to decide. We have just one child and undecided about having more (so some good state primaries as a backup would be nice).

Clapham appears to be more fun and better connected via tube than Dulwich. We have visited only a couple of times.

Any thoughts/advice/inputs/experiences would be valuable. Which will be a better choice in terms of the 2 schools and locations. Cheers x

Think I'd probably go Dulwich out of those two areas, but don't know anything about the schools and not much about the areas really.

There's no shortage of good preps in the Dulwich village area (it's not 1 choice). There are other threads on here about Duke's education owned schools like the Manor.

But the key factor here is the area. As a family based in central London we have many more days out in Dulwich than Clapham. The woods, park, museums, galleries etc. There's no contest.

Dulwich is a much more family friendly area - you are surrounded by forests, playing fields and sports clubs. If your child is not outdoorsy maybe it's more or less an equal choice. Plenty of train lines into London Victoria from Dulwich as well, takes less time than taking the tube (though train strikes and frequency can be an issue).

Dulwich is better for families. Lots of great schools (state and private) at both secondary and primary age. JAGs, Alleyns and Dulwich College are the big private schools in the area but there are other small preps and Kingsdale and the Charter schools are good for secondary as well as many good state options for primary years.

West Dulwich is sleepier than East Dulwich or Dulwich Village but its closer to DPL and the housing is cheaper. East Dulwich and Herne Hill are younger and more 'fun'. The village is the poshest. Your budget of 1.1m will get you a 3 bed terrace house with a small garden in most parts of Dulwich / Herne Hill.