Admission to a private school in London

[Ish9]

My son who is currently studying in India in grade 2 (age 7) would soon be joining my husband and I in London. We are looking for good private schools and how to get admission into these schools?

You’d need to call the registrar/admissions at the individual schools you have in mind and ask them.

Which part of London- you don't want your son to travel for hours to and from school, or it will affect his results.

We stay in east London. Could you suggest some good schools? Please tell me something about the admission process. Thanks

Private schools handle their own admissions so you will have to contact them individually. How soon are you talking, many schools may not have a place. I’d contact them asap as private schools break up for the summer soon and admissions staff may not work over the summer.

I would buy a subscription to the Good Schools' Guide, it will give you a good starting point. Too many options to list / impossible to know what will be suitable.

Assuming your son doesn’t turn 8 before 1 September, he will be going into Year 3, which in the state school system is the first year of junior school.

Will he be in the Uk by September?

Approx which part of east London? For example, do you know your borough or nearest tube?

Admissions for September will have been finalised some months ago, but there may be waiting lists etc at schools. But your question is far too general to get much help at the moment.

I think you missed the boat for private school 8+ admissions, but look into. Some schools might do 9+ (I know kings does). There are also occasional places at schools. Or he could join a prep school, which will have spots as some boys will leave at 7+ and 8+

Also OP private schools are about to break up for the summer, some as early as next week so you don’t want to hang around. Good Schools Guide subscription is an excellent suggestion then I would just go down the list and call any that look suitable and have a manageable commute- east London is still v vague, if you want more specific recommendations then you could also make another post titled something like ‘prep schools with occasional places in/near Greenwich’ (or wherever you’re going to be living) and include DC’s age. But private schools handle their own admissions and east London is huge so unfortunately no one can answer your current question. Good luck!

You could contact the Lyceum School in Hackney/City. They may have a place available as they recently expanded. Only goes through Y6 (so would have to go through 11+ process for senior school) but I've heard it's a lovely community and impressive leavers' destinations for a relatively small school. But I agree with PP that you should contact schools now as many will break up soon for the summer.