Putney High vs Surbiton High vs KGS/Wallington

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We are in a fortunate situation now as DD has received a few offers from schools of our choice. We are torn between Surbiton (with not insignificant scholarship) and Putney High (without scholarship). In addition, she has an offer from KGS and has a score which may help get an offer from Wallington grammar - we are less keen on these currently but keen to understand different perspective.

On both visits, we loved Surbiton high. Surbiton is also likely to prove better financially, although terms of the scholarship require DD to be in top x% every year to retain the scholarship. We have also heard positive things about pastoral at Surbiton.

On the other hand, Putney seems to be highly regarded in the area and has better GCSE results so it looks counter-intutive to leave the option (even if costlier).

We are not wealthy but can manage to afford for 5-7 years.

Travel time does not seem much different, although there is more dependency on SW train running normally for Subiton High (Putney is well connected and closer as we are in Wimbledon).

Will be grateful for inputs to compare these schools.

This is a really tricky one. Surbiton is a brilliant school. We really loved it, and found it hard to turn our offer down. I would definitely be anxious about only keeping a scholarship if in the top x percent, that’s a lot of pressure. Depends if you feel your daughter would cope?

We chose Putney over Surbiton, and hope we’ve made the right choice- I am pretty sure we have. I didn’t look at KGS as wanted all girls.

Good luck with you choice, and maybe see you at Putney in Sept!

A tricky decision. The commute from Wimbledon to Putney is a very easy with one bus but there will also be plenty of girls going to Surbiton from Wimbledon.

It is fantastic that your DD has an academic scholarship at Surbiton which will certainly help over the years as all the extras also add up. What benefits come with the scholarship other than a reduction in fees? Maybe assess the value of those? How will she respond bring top of the pack rather than possibly middle? Surbiton take more girls so their range is broader but it doesn't mean your DD will do less well because of it.

Obviously KGS is co ed so it depends on your view on this, and their GCSE results last year were better than Putney with 87 (A*-A) compared to 82% although not much in it. KGS is a fantastic school pastorally, but it sounds as if your mind is made up and it's between the other schools so maybe discount it to make life easier and open up a place to another child. Once you have decided on the independent you then only have to wait a few weeks to hear about the grammar.

Best of luck.

I’d definitely go for PHS unless you need to decide on Surbiton for financial reasons. Having the pressure to stay in top % would not be ideal for a teenage girl. If there scholarship had not been offered what would your decision be? Putney has a better reputation in academics with SHS always considered a back up option in the past. I think SHS has a much larger intake too so harder to join sports teams/drama. Finally if the commute is easier to Putney that is a big consideration for her daily life as well as late pick ups or parents events. I think SHS are very slick in their taster/open days and have mastered the art of selling themselves when the reality may be different.

I've got a dd in the girls prep for SHS, have you looked into the coach option rather than relying on southwest trains? The price is quite reasonable and you could just pay for the mornings and let your dd take the train home at her leisure.

Pastoral care at the prep level is excellent, I hope that it does remain that way throughout the school but I can't confirm that. Teachers are very responsive on email even on weekends and evenings, and always happy to have meetings outside of the parents evening dates.

If you loved Surbiton and have a scholarship but can afford it if she loses it, it's a no brainer. I think 90% of this decision is your dd's.

Thank you all for your helpful and insightful replies.

Going to offer days for both next week but not sure what will be different from open morning.

I would avoid any commuting on southwestern trains. I have to rely on them to get to work and 90% of the journeys are always late!

A friend's daughter commutes from Putney to Surbiton. Like another poster suggested, she gets the school coach in the morning and the train back. Hadn't been a problem.

Thank you all for your inputs once again. Request some fresh ideas as we are getting more confused rather than being able to narrow down our options.

On relook at the GCSE results, it seems KGS is the best followed by Wallington and Putney close to each other and Surbiton seems last among this group.

I was earlier looking the composite A level score (silly me) which seems similar for Putney and Surbiton but it seems like Subiton GCSE score is boosted by PE kind of subjects (not my DD's strength) whereas KGS / Wallington / Putney seem ahead in STEM by quite a margin (DD is reasonably good in maths and I envision her doing well in STEM as compared to PE/language etc).

DD is introverted and is not sporty.

I think GCSE is a better bet in terms of what to look at as there is movement in and out for sixth form. Even though Surbiton have lower gcse results than the others, they have a larger in take and it won't mean your DD (or any other child) won't do as well as she would if she went to Putney or Kingston, the latter which is getting harder to get into

Op. First decide co ed or girls only rather than looking at GCSE results as it will confuse you.

OP - it is very difficult to compare GCSE results. I have seen posters comment about a drop in Putney's results but P is now sitting mostly GCSEs apart from for Maths and English which are still IGCSE. Another SW London Indy saw it's number of 9-7 passes halve last year when they swapped IGCSE for GCSE English exams. So converting is affecting results and until it is a level playing field it makes more sense to compare A level results which are available on the govt site. I would also add that GCSE results are important for one day in a childs life, results day, after that no-one cares but A levels results stay with you.

Having my second DC now going through 6th form I can say that some leave but most stay and a few join. I think it all evens out at 6th form except at the very selective boys schools that go co-ed.

parenting mine are 25 and 21 now. The most important thing is that a child is happy. We screwed up with dd and instead of Surbiton sent her to a local supposedly elite small cofe girls school on the basis we couldn't justify £12k for Surbiton's added value when she didn't get an offer from phs. She was as miserable as sin and at end of year 8 there were no places at surbiton. We compromised and sent her to our backstop school in Cobham where she was happy. She transferred to whs for 6th form and still went to Cambridge.

Happiness op and child's ultimate choice - forget league tables - a nano percentage advantage extrapolates into a significant disadvantage if the child is unhappy. And you will spend 7 years beating yourself up.

thank you for helpful responses - really appreciate it.

I would caution against getting hung up on comparing composite exam results. As cake says, the comparison is hard to to do in any case.

PHS is always going to look better than SHS on that basis as it has a more selective intake. Would the same girl get similar grades regardless of which she chooses? Obviously very hard to measure but my sense is that most of these SW London private schools will do a decent job on the academic side.

I think factors like ethos, culture, location and even cost are probably worth more weight. And, to be honest, parental/DD gut feel are often just as valid a consideration.

I'd go with SHS and the scholarship. Broader intake means it's not hyper competitive which is nicer for a kid i think.

People in SW london get so hung up on schools.

thank you for your replies

Can I ask what school you went for in the end? We are in a similar position this year. Our daughter has offers from Putney High and Surbiton High (and a scholarship offer from Sutton High). Our daughter wants to become an author and is a super writer. Which school would nurture this best and help her fulfil her dream I wonder?!

@MumAtHomeMainly are they all
Scholarship offers? The scholarship would be tempting, as it means recognition in some way - special attention from the start. All great schools from what girls at our prep have experienced. Is size an issue? We didn’t apply for PHS or Surbiton due to large year groups - especially at Surbiton. PHS is a bit smaller. Sutton High is even smaller, still. What is your DD’s preference? Sutton High is one we are strongly considering, - jealous of your scholarship as financial reasons are a big factor in our decision making - but waiting for other offers to be out and also in March for grammars.

@corblimbea it’s only Sutton which has offered us a scholarship. Our daughter loved Sutton but hasn’t seen the other schools much due to Covid so it’s hard for her to decide. She’s happy with all of them really (one other we rejected as she wasn’t keen). It’s a good point on size of school. PHS is a nice middle size.

It's a confidence booster to have a scholarship, schools don't take them away easily or lightly, it makes a horrible relationship and bad publicity that is in no one's interest really.

@MumAtHomeMainly it would probably depend on the size of the scholarship then! If it’s 5% then probably not that important, but in the current climate, if it’s more than 10% that would be the decider for us! Especially as it would be over seven years, while fees are bound to go up. They are all great schools so congrats to your DD - you’re in an enviable position to have a choice! We loved Sutton, our DD felt at home there and it seems to push the individual a bit more due to size - but with no scholarship and covid, we will probably go for the free grammar of offered. Have you only done independent? We are waiting on KGS too.

If she can go to Putney I wouldn't send her to Sutton there is no comparison between them academically.

SHS wouldnt take an academic scholarship away. So don't worry about that. I know of a girl with an academic scholarship in my daughters year who is in the bottom set for most subjects.

Thanks for all the info. The Sutton scholarship is academic plus music and amounts to 15%. It’s not a game-changer. We want to pick the school she’d he happiest in and flourish especially with her writing which she so loves. Thanks for all the views. Really helpful. It’s hard to decide when you can’t walk around the schools. But they’re all amazing and we’d be happy with any of them. Just v.lucky to have the choice of more than one.