Advice on where to apply at birth (West London)

[Bezin]

Hello!
we are first time parents who are not from the UK and are trying to navigate the UK private schooling system. We are expecting a son next week and have been calling what we think are the top schools in West and North London to understand what is the admission process.
What we are wary of is to make sure that we register him to the top schools where registering as early as possible is key. We think we can figure out the others later.
My understanding is that the following schools fall in the category of registering at birth is key: Wetherby, Norland, Eaton House.
The others we are looking into (Garden House, Falkner, The Hall, Thomas's, Westminster Under) can be dealt with later.

Would it be possible to have the advice from this community on (1) whether we go this list right , (2) any schools you think are missing and (3) any views between Wetherby Nottinghill and W Kensington? We currently live in Earls Court but so WK works well but we are definitely moving later as our flat is small and we'll work around what works for the baby.

thank you so much !

This is so alien to me as most private schools in the north will take anybody that can pay as numbers are dwindling! Good luck with your search OP & congrats on your child. 😊

They all advise registration at birth because they want the fee. I very much doubt it is actually necessary. Most of the babies who will be in your son’s year aren’t born yet.

enjoy your baby and look up the schools again when they are 6 months old.

There are so many good prep schools in London ( and state schools) and so many people coming and going that there are always places available, whatever the schools may tell you. Don’t worry about it for a while- there’s enough to get your head round with a new born without worrying about schools.

We are in N London although we have girls. We put names down at birth for about 10 schools as we knew we'd be moving house within N London and needed to cast the net wide. For us it was worth it for peace of mind. In the end we ended up at a 4-18 school after the 4+, but it was always reassuring to know that we had good fall back options. Several friends didn't, and didn't pass the 4+ and had to scramble around a bit afterwards.
There may be places available later but it often needs a bit more negotiating and I didn't want the hassle. I'd say that if you're considering these types of schools, the registration fee is fairly trivial and it's just easier to register and keep as many options open as you can, especially if you plan to move.

Sounds about right