London prep schools with strong routes to top academic senior schools

[NupM]

Hi all,
We’re currently based in Solihull but are planning to move to London before September.
My husband and I both work in London and currently commute from the Midlands. We only need to be in the office 1–2 days a week, so we’ve decided it’s time to relocate closer to work and make the most of what London offers for the children.
We have:

• A son who is 9 (currently Year 4)
• A daughter who is 4 and will be starting school

Our main priority is finding the right prep school for our son. He is bright, sporty, enjoys learning and is doing well academically. We’d like to give him the best opportunity to progress to a strong academic senior school such as St Paul’s, Westminster, City of London, Highgate or similar. We appreciate that, at Year 4, we’re looking for an occasional place rather than a standard entry point, so we’d be very grateful for advice from parents who know the London prep school landscape. A few questions:

1. Which prep schools have the strongest track record of sending boys to St Paul’s and other top academic senior schools?
2. Which schools are most realistic for a Year 4 entrant arriving this summer?
3. If St Paul’s was your preferred senior school destination, which prep schools would be at the top of your list?
4. Which areas of London would you recommend for access to strong prep schools while still having a manageable commute into central London?
5. Any experiences of Hereward House, Wetherby Prep, Sussex House, Shrewsbury House, or other academically focused prep schools?

We’re fairly flexible on location and would ideally like to choose an area based on schooling rather than the other way around. We’d love to hear from anyone who has made a similar move or whose children have successfully gone through the London prep school system.

Many thanks.

Most of the schools post their results.
I recently reviewed those of Eaton House the Manor and all the boys made it into tops schools many with scholarships.

what school is your son currently attending? I assume it is a private prep? The 11+ is hugely competitive in west
london, and so it is not as straightforward as wanting your son to attend St Paul’s. For context, schools like latymer had over 2000 applicants this year. Your best bet in my opinion would be to choose one of the very strong prep schools in and around Chiswick / barne’s / richmond etc. currently you are looking at the most famous prep schools, but rest assured the likes of orchard house and RPPS have very strong relationships with the heads of the senior schools in the region, and if they think your child is a good fit for a school, they will endeavour to recommend your child to them. Pushy parents desperate to get their kids into the top schools can be left disappointed because it’s not academics alone that make a child a strong contender for a school like St Paul’s… that’s just your starter for ten. So I would research it well and listen to your prep school’s advice on the right schools to apply for in year 6.

Have you looked at the Senior Schools you mentioned? Bear in mind that a lot of the boys at those Preps will be tutored on top to get into St Pauls and Westminster. Some from a very young age. There will be those who aren’t but the leavers destinations are not necessary due to the School.
i think Shrewsbury House is in Surbiton? Looking at their destinations they are far more geared towards the Surrey Schools? I think they are now part of a group with St P but not sure what that means in practice?
Will be very different types of parents at Shrewsbury House and Wetherby for example. Depends what you are looking for? Brace yourself for the central London pushy prep parent!
I think most schools will have spaces in Y4. Lots of foreign families leaving London for tax reasons!

You could look at one of the more rounded Co- Ed preps for both of your children. If your son is bright enough for St P/ Westminster etc he could get in from there. Lots in SW/ W London. Not impossible from state primaries either.

Slight cross post with @lostinchaos!
hope my post wasn’t a bit cynical! Good luck with it all. Mine were at a state primary and went to very academic independent secondaries - was all fine. (One got into St Paul’s but went elsewhere). I’ve always been a bit cynical about the super pushy prep schools- it’s all a bit stripey blazers and shiny badges with lots of tutoring going on on the side!

Thank you, that’s really helpful and exactly the kind of insight I was hoping for.

My son is currently at a private prep school in Solihull and is doing well academically and in sport, but we’re conscious that moving to London means entering a very different and much more competitive admissions landscape.

We’re certainly not assuming that simply wanting St Paul’s means he’ll get in. Our thinking is more about finding the strongest prep school environment that will give him the best opportunity to develop and keep those options open if he proves capable.

It’s interesting that you mention Orchard House and RPPS. As newcomers to London, we’ve naturally come across the more well-known names such as Shrewsbury House, but we’re keen to learn about schools that may fly under the radar yet have excellent senior school outcomes and strong relationships with local heads.

Would you say choosing the right prep school and having confidence in their senior school guidance is more important than chasing the most famous prep school name? Also, are there particular areas you’d recommend looking at if senior schools like St Paul’s, long-term aim?

Many thanks for taking the time to reply.

I would factor in having to tutor as well for those types of independent schools. The prep schools will say don’t tutor, it isn’t necessary, but most of the other parents will be doing it. Especially for your boy going into y5 from outside the London bubble wanting the top flight schools.

For those prep you mentioned, Sussex house is a great school but not that sporty. Weatherby have lots of connections with St Paul junior, and they do sports match every year so in those match days, you can join St Paul ground and chat with other family. I think quite nice to know the school in different way?

Hi id recommend WCCS as a very strong contender lots of us mums moved from Eton house Belgravia to either WCCS or Weatherby for those schools of course Westminster Under school being your strongest contender

Agree - look at WCCS.

excellent school!

WCCS is a very good school but everyone I know who has attended has been particularly musical, often being offered music scholarships, and obviously catholic!

but yes, I do believe in matching the child to the school based on more than the school name and league table number. It is so easy to get it wrong in senior school that I do feel like it’s best to listen to the advice of your prep school… assuming they know your child well enough. A happy child performs well at school, not one that is at a big name but struggling to keep up academically / socially etc. some of these schools are very elitist and the level of privilege is extraordinary. St Paul’s prides itself on taking the top 1 or 2 % of the country, and so if your son is taking standardised assessments at his current school (e,g. HAST, PUMA) then he would need to be scoring over 130 out of 141 regularly to be considered at that standard required based on my prep schools advice. Of course this is not a linear thing as I don’t feel academics alone are what schools look for.

And of course all of this may be something your son is well suited to and as a family you are very familiar with, so he might be an ideal pupil for them. but it’s worth bearing in mind when you look around the schools that you should take notice of the parents, ask about where they live (as if they all travel long distances you lose some of the school community) and spend time speaking to the current pupils showing you round the school. London private schools are very different to those in other regions, excluding maybe the top boarding schools. That being said, west London has a lot to offer in terms of academic schools and those considered the top in the country. There are also very good school buses for schools that require a longer commute, so living in and around Chiswick/ Richmond / Wimbledon could be a good option for you.

What about Shrewsbury House Prep School in Surbiton? They are now part of the St Paul's group, and have recently developed a specific pathway to St Paul's for Senior School (for those boys that are suited, I presume). They also feed the other top day and boarding schools. Our son has moved onto Senior School now, so we are but out of touch, but he had an incredible time there and it totally exceeded our expectations in terms of academics, sport, music and 13+ prep.

Thank you, that’s really helpful. We’re not Catholic, so that’s another factor to consider with WCCS.

I completely agree that finding the right fit for the child is more important than chasing the biggest school name. Your point about looking beyond academics and considering the school community, current pupils and families really resonates. Lots for us to think about!
Thank you again for taking the time to share your thoughts. It’s especially helpful to hear from someone with first-hand experience of the London independent school landscape.

Thank you, that’s really encouraging to hear. Shrewsbury House is actually very much on our radar, we have a school visit and assessment booked for Wednesday, so we’re looking forward to seeing it for ourselves.

It’s great to hear you had such a positive experience there. The St Paul’s pathway is certainly an attractive aspect too. Hopefully Wednesday will give us a good feel for whether it’s the right fit for our son.

The Hall School in Hampstead has a strong record of sending boys to Westminster and St Paul's. I think they're usually the largest feeder school to Westminster aside from WUS itself.

Kings House School sends quite a few to St P every year.

Thing is many probably don't have 'occasional' places.
In which case, you might consider Hampstead Hill which does have space in its 'new' prep.

If you are happy to lock into a secondary now it is also worth calling around the schools you like that have preps to see if any occasional places available. You get more turnover than you’d think particularly when there are international families. Eg Highgate goes from 4, City has City Junior School which feeds up to CLS and CLSG.

You need to be prepared that Shrewsbury can’t magic up good results. So they may have a “link” but they will be the first to suggest other schools if necessary as they have a reputation to uphold. And they (much like many others, especially those going to 13) need bums on seats. So they can’t afford to recommend boys who won’t get in and will be the first to say no to schools they don’t think your boy can get into (and I think this is right!). So just because you have a place….we know several families who moved there and are not so happy the schools they originally were aiming for are not options..and several who left as they felt it wasn’t felt to be as nurturing as others. But - this is second hand so I can’t vouch for being a current parent. But am a year 5 and year 6 parent locally so in the mix!