Private Prep School in London vs Outside London

[uk2020]

We are moving to the UK this summer. I am looking for a private prep school for my DD for Y4 entry. I prefer a prep school with a good girls' senior school so that there will be a bit insurance for Y7 entry. It now seems that it will be very difficult to get into such a school in London but it is a possibility for some towns outside London. If I take the latter route, I still want to return to London for Y7. However, if I live in a small town outside London, I am concerned that I may not be able to get enough tutoring support to prepare for Y7 entrance assessment. Therefore, I was thinking if I should just target any private prep school in London. Any advice would be be much appreciated. Thanks!

Have a look at gdst schools.

And you may be looking for independent junior schools rather than prep.

London is a big place. Is there a preferred location (even if it’s only N, S, E or W)? What sort of schools are you thinking of for Y7 - highly academic or more middle ground?

The GDST schools are the obvious ones to look at, but not all schools guarantee entrance to Y7 from the lower school.

Zodlebud

Thanks! I was thinking about the highly academic schools. I am 100% flexible in terms of where to live since I can WFH.

guildford high, st catherines (both Guildford)

If you look at schools outside London but want to go back in at 11, you'll need a prep school rather than a junior school which has its own senior school. There are lots, all over the home counties, all levels of academics and styles of schools so you'll need to narrow your search somewhat!

The Guildford school the PP has mentioned are great schools..........but they aren't prep schools so won't prep for 11+ (and nothing like the prep you'll need for the London schools) so if you definitely want to go back to London, they probably aren't quite right for you.

GU24Mum

Thank you so much for the clarification. So a real prep school offers more for a pupil to prepare for 11+ entrance test? Then, for exampls, Oxford High Prep School and St Swithun's Prep are not the real prep schools you referred to?

Yes exactly. A standalone prep school relies on its leavers destinations for reputation so teaches towards competitive exams, one with a junior/senior tends to encourage the best to stay on and filter out those who will not fit the senior. If you don't want a second move and to keep the same social group entering a junior school can work well but less so if you plan to move again. You need to ask each about it but be aware they may pay lip service to external exam prep. I'm not sure how gdst schools work now but there used to be a link such that moves between were not uncommon if you changed area.

OP, I'd look less at the name of the school and more about whether it has an attached senior school. If a junior school is happy to send most of its pupils to its senior school then it doesn't focus the curriculum on 11+ prep in Years 5 & 6. If it has to stand on its ability to get pupils into different schools then it drills them for the 11+.

There are literally hundreds of options so you do need to narrow down what you're looking for else you'll tie yourself in knots! If you come up with an area and post ("Can anyone recommend schools in/near XX?" for example) you should get lots of feedback.

If you find an area and start to look at "prep" schools (by which I mean schools which need to send their pupils somewhere separate at the end), you should be able to see the range of schools they send to. Bear in mind that some are selective/competitive entry at 3/4/7 and that will skew where they send to. You'd probably want to find somewhere which regularly sends children to the schools you may be interested in.

Of you're looking for North London there are quite a few indy prep schools, and many with senior schools. My niece goes to a good one in Enfield.