Is poor communication from London private prep schools now standard?

[CommunicationNation]

FWIW, we are located in London. I have reached out to four private prep schools, this includes emails and telephone calls. The communication has been dire, with 3 out of 4 not bothering to contact me back (I contacted them before Easter), and the 1 that did contact me back promised a phone call the following day which never materialised.

These schools aren’t cheap, they are all in the region of £30k+. Is this just standard practice that private schools do not respond or are poor communicators? I have heard great things about these schools and they are well regarded locally, but I feel as though I am harassing them to take my money, when it should be the other way around! There is the other possibility that I could have been blacklisted, though I have no idea why, none of these schools have met me or my DC before.

Presumably they’re just back after the Easter holidays and full for September. I agree I’d expect a response but my guess would be they’re busy, oversubscribed and you need to follow the admissions process. Any popular and successful independent school is all sorted for this September so you are far too late.

I totally get that they may be oversubscribed and sorted for September, therefore responding to prospective parents is not the priority. I do feel it is extremely poor form to offer nothing by way of response, even if it is, as someone else pointed out, ‘sorry we are full’… you can even set up an automatic response to admissions enquiries that states, ‘if you are looking for a place for September for Reception, we are full.’

OP people here are being a bit rude to you but they are broadly right - they are oversubscribed businesses who don’t need more business.

i would add - 1) no, the comms effiency does not reflect the quality of the school overall- so research and pick which you want and apply yourself to winning a place and 2) they mostly close for 3 weeks over Easter so it’s like emailing a business on 27th December.

i swear we got our school prep place because I called to follow it up at the right moment when they were looking for someone keen - so choose your favourites and persevere

Does that not feel like harassment though? Continuing to contact them when they haven’t responded, won’t that just piss them off?

Perfectly normal.

Your post made me smile though. I once naively shared your bafflement!

If they have good reputations, the schools will have more people trying to get in than they can take.

I would give it another week. Most of our local preps only went back on Tuesday, some just today. If nothing, then follow up with them. But I think the truth is, you contacted 4 schools looking for a reception place in September. If they had space, you would know about it. Likelihood is that they don't have a space for you. and communicating with prospective parents at this point of the year is low priority.

FWIW one of the schools we are at had very stilted and limited communication with us through the admissions process. If I was picking a school based on how they communicated with me...I would definitely not have gone there. But, turns out they are the most brilliant and communicative of any schools we have experienced, now we are parents.

In your shoes, I would pick up the phone and speak to them. Don't mention the email. Act like it's your first contact with them.

It's a given that everyone hoping for a place will be able to pay the fees so don't approach it like a consumer experience in which they need to charm you. You are asking for something outside what they usually offer so you need to be the charming one (although not slimy or bribey)- friendly, keen and grateful for their help.

Is your son’s name on the waiting list?
Forget about tours. You’re not the royal family.
Try and get his name on as many waiting lists as possible. You have left it so late. I’d look at state schools too at this stage tbh.

My kids were on waiting lists from
birth. I still didn’t get offers from quite a few of them!

I have no.idea OP as my kids attend state school. You have however reminded me of a few years when there was a particular private school that I was considering and rung to enquire. No answer. I rung that number from the website many times, plus a second number. I emailed, followed up on my emails and filled in an online form. Nothing. One time when I called somebody picked up, hooray! But it was a teacher in a classroom, surprised that the class phone was ringing and interrupting their lesson! Nobody ever got back to me and it left me totally baffled as to how they got any new students!

Top performing London prep schools have registration open years before Reception entry year and the email would state registration application process with deadlines and fee. The Sept 2026 Reception year group, would have 4+ assessments in Jan 2026 for which offers and waiting list are given. The offer days are set for those given places already.

It’s bizarre isn’t it.

Two of the schools, whilst well regarded, are rumoured to be struggling post-VAT, so whilst I appreciate for some schools it may be the case of being so oversubscribed and full so not to bother responding, I am surprised to have not had a response from the two that aren’t so much in this position.

It definitely isn’t the case that every London prep is oversubscribed! And regarding fees it’s shocking how many parents have to be chased to pay or barely have the funds in the first place!

Perhaps they can't pay their BT bill and internet/phone have been cut off!😂

Having worked in these settings, I’m really surprised you haven’t heard from them. Yes they are businesses and have fixed ways of operating re places but replying to prospective parents is pretty basic and important admin. It’s how they’ll stay afloat! Wait lists even at the long standing popular schools in London are not what they were and all schools are keeping a close eye on numbers. I’m really sorry this has been your experience and it would definitely put me off the school. Just as I wouldn’t see them as ‘lucky’ to have my money, I wouldn’t want to send my kid somewhere where they are meant to feel ‘lucky’ to have a place!

Of course it's poor practice not to reply or communicate. This goes for state schools too. And all sorts of other offices.

But if you break it down, it's probably one, possibly two people actually checking those inboxes and voicemails. I doubt they're actively thinking 'We're oversubscribed so I can just not do a key part of my job.' But you may be quite low on the list of priorities every day, and not rise to the top because new urgent things happen every day.
So you have to keep ringing and politely reminding them you exist and that you very much appreciate their time and response.

I wouldn’t want to send my kid somewhere where they are meant to feel ‘lucky’ to have a place!

They kids ARE lucky to get places in some of these schools. In my experience, kids also see themselves as fortunate to have secured places there. It actually makes for a nice school environment.

Yeah, there's no getting round it that where a school is oversubscribed, you are lucky to have a place.

If the schools are struggling post-vat then it's a different group of schools to the ones I think most of us assumed. But my advice is the same- phone, don't email.

I understand the sentiment but I don’t really agree with it. If your kid gets into a school like this, of course they are fortunate to have the opportunities that come with it but I don’t think it’s a helpful thing for kids to be told or for schools to think. It’s often used in an unhelpful way by parents/staff to keep kids in check or it enables schools to get away with poor practices or decisions because they think everyone should feel lucky to be there.

I work in one of these kinds of schools.

Admissions would hopefully respond to you and tell you how often they are likely to have occasional places etc if full, but in their own time after returning from the Easter holidays and doing all the other stuff they need to get done I imagine.

Tbh the school is incredibly oversubscribed at this intake point so they might not reply very quickly... They will always prioritise queries etc from parents who do have a place and setting up the next admissions cycle, running the open days etc they might also be keeping costs down as a PP has noted by having limited admissions/marketing staff (one person in a prep school I would have thought).

However, I did apply last year late for my own child for a prep place in a school which wasn't full and they rolled out the red carpet. It depends if they need you!

I didn’t mean the opportunities as much as it creates a respectful learning environment from the kids to the school and towards the teachers.

How long would you expect to wait for a reply and when should a parent follow up?

If you are nice when you call then they won’t particularly mind. And they likely won’t feel harassed because the person answering the phone will likely not have seen your emails anyway

I think fine to call up tomorrow. I would call mid morning or early afternoon. Be cheery, ask to speak to admissions. Don’t mention your previous comms. Just tell them you are looking for a reception place for September, do they have any capacity.

If they say no, ask if you can leave your details for occasional places. Unlikely much will change before sept but you never know or you might hear down the path. Obviously you wouldn’t have to take anything so no real downside.

If they say yes, don’t ask about taster days, say that’s great, you’ve heard so many good things, what would be the process for being considered for admissions, could you arrange a tour at all?

Dont think of yourself as a customer in those interactions, that tone will get their backs up. IF they have a place and IF they are willing to take your child then the dynamic switches.

Ok, I will give this a go. Sounds like I need to put my pushy, work hat on when it comes to all of this. I assumed they would be keen to reply to prospective parents.