Thomas' Battersea

[Bonsoir]

Does anybody know whether the Years 7 and 8 are over or undersubscribed? What are the chances of a last minute place?

I called and begged and they said no. But they're very nice and will talk to you about it.

Bonsoir -

you could try

• hill house
• knightsbridge
• wetherby (unless its for a dd!)
• fulham prep
• newton prep
• thomas's clapham
• notting hill prep
• eaton square

Some of these schools have multiple classes in yr7/8 so squeezing one more in is doable.

Good luck
Hope that helps

DS1 is in Yr 7 at Thomas's Battersea and according to the class lists we have, there are 60 in the year which, I think, makes it full. However, the Registrar is very, very approachable and if you phone up, will be able to tell you if anyone dropped out.

Oh brilliant information - thank you!

TRL - what do you think of the school?

We are in London, and pretty much any prep that hooray has mentioned will be over subscribed. However, the benefit of being in London is that there lots of movement, and (I think you have a dd?), lots of girls will be doing 11+. If your going to based south of the river I would have a look at Broomwood Hall.

It's very hypothetical right now - we may move to London next year and I would rather DD continue in the French system but there is a major capacity shortage in French schooling in London and we may not get a place. At some point I may need to look for an English alternative but I'm not in a position to do this within the schools' official deadlines.

Agree with Lula to take a look at Broomwood if you want single sex. They will lose some girls at 11+ so will have spaces....as will most of the preps on my list - a lot of boys will also move, freeing up spots and only those staying for 13+ CE will stay for 7/8. Girls staying to 13+ (ie. yr7/8) is still relatively rare in London unless aiming for boarding (as 90% of the Broomwood girls will be that stay), so I think you would be welcomed with open arms by most of the schools on my list who are keen to get more girls to stay on for yrs 7/8. Call the registrars and ask how many girls they currently have in yrs7/8 in order to narrow down your list to schools where your DD would have a reasonably sized cohort. My guess is they will all have lots of boys!!

I agree having a daughter is in your favor, I suspect you'd have no problem getting into many of the 4-13 schools for this reason alone.

You could also look at the American School in St John's Wood which caters to short timelines.

Oh good news! I had a hunch that spots might free up for girls in Y7 and Y8 and you are confirming it.

Not sure about single sex though - not what we're used to at all!

Gosh just seen the amount of typos in my last post . Dd isn't anywhere near the 11+ stage yet but the other posters are right, girls leaving at 11 is still very much the norm in London right now, so you should definitely find getting a year 7 place easier than say a year 6.
Would you consider getting Dd to do the 11+ and applying for senior schools in addition to preps, or even weekly boarding in a prep outside of London - as either of those options would give you a lot more choice.

I'm considering all sorts of things, to be honest, though I don't think that weekly boarding is on the cards. I wouldn't mind living outside London myself but I would have to persuade my DP to commute which would require a certain amount of negotiation!

Not sure you want to live in Battersea, come further west!

Sorry for the hijack but here is a link to our local talk for Wandsworth - lots of parents with kids at Thomas, Broomwood and Newton over there for you to ask.

P.S. QuintessentiallyQS is wrong. Battersea is lurvely