Reviews on Dundonald School

[RandomExplorer]

Hi there,

We started our research for our first home/neighborhood back in 2022. We used locrating to shortlist schools and neighborhoods. And Dundonald was our top shortlist based on our criteria - Top 1-7% school, distance from station and high street are good, good % of grammar admissions for outgoing cohort etc

Fast forward to 2025, we placed an offer on a house in Dundonald catchment. The house is overly optimized for Dundonald. We did school viewings for Dunonald and Wimbledon Chase and liked Dundonald better. We did not do viewings for any others in the area. We are not Christians and did not think we are eligible for Bishop Gilpin, but learnt recently that we could qualify for that as well.

I checked out locrating for again today for 2025 results, and was disheartened to see Dundonald dropping to top 25% school from top 1% in 2022. The catchments also seem to have been growing over the last few years. The % of parents recommending the school also seemed to have dropped slightly from 9x% (I do not remember the last year stats but seemed high enough) to 94%.

I am now wondering if we are making the right decision for my kid, after the extensive research. If you are from the neighborhood and know about the school, please share your views on the school.

Honestly, any schools around that area are great. I would not take any notice of those ratings. The birth rate has been so low anyway that there are spaces in all then schools.

The percentage who recommend the school is often based on small numbers. Our kids' schools had Ofsted and not that many filled in the online form. You can check responses online - I can't remember exactly where. A drop like that could easily be 1 parent not happy.

Results will fluctuate a bit depending on the children in each cohort. In an area where some go to grammar, the numbers tutoring for that will impact results too. With the right parental support, your child do their best in a top 25% school, as well as a top 1% and you will likely find likeminded families.

Have you visited the school? Did you like the Head teacher? If you haven't, open days will probably be soon.

I live close by and love that area. The proximity to central Wimbledon, Dundonald park, etc. Catchment areas have been growing around a lot of schools as people have fewer kids, and those that do have kids can no longer afford the eyewateringly high house prices around outstanding London primaries.