Harrodian vs St Paul's vs Kings College Wimbledon

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We are in the process of selecting schools for our son in the 11+ process (currently Year 5).

We live within a short walk of Harrodian School in Barnes. The families we know whose children attend Harrodian seem to be very happy with the school, the stunning sports grounds and facilities all on site. It is also getting increasingly selective and performing well academically in addition to being on an upward trajectory. I'm very inclined to send our son there for secondary. He is quite academic but a bit of an all-rounder, also sporty and also musical. He scores very highly on CAT4 tests but is not always the hardest worker and draws his boundaries when he's had enough.

We are also walking distance to St Paul's which is an extraordinary school. We'd love for him to go there but understand how selective it is. On one hand I feel like it might be better suited for those with a harder work ethic but on the other hand I've seen him thrive at his current prep school being surrounded by children who are driven and perhaps an environment like St Paul's will be beneficial for him (assuming he makes it through selection).

Then there is KCS in Wimbledon. Possibly not quite as extreme as St Paul's but would realistically be up to an hour commute each way in London peak traffic. I wonder whether the commute would be worth it for that KCS has to offer and whether there is much more to be gained from KCS than Harrodian.

I'd be grateful for any thoughts or feedback on the above schools.

Harrodian is coed and the others are boys schools, so not sure if that is a consideration for you. My advice is to go to the open days at all the schools and get a feel for them, understand what their entry process is, what co-curricular are available, try out the commute to school etc.

Having gone through this last year, I also looked at what GCSE and A-level subjects are available at each school, what sports they offer, size of classes, size of year group, fees, travel options etc side-by-side to do a comparison. Harrodian’s GCSE subjects/options were somewhat different from other schools which I hadn’t appreciated until I did my comparison. For example, they had different languages, media, business, film studies which weren’t always offered at other schools. I will say that the Harrodian entrance process was by far the least stressful out of the schools we applied to. We liked the school (it was also the closest to home for us) and received an offer but ultimately chose a different school.

KCS is a great school (I have 3 kids there/recent leaver plus 1 to follow) but I wouldn’t travel an hour to get there with StP close at hand. How are you thinking he’d travel? Train to Putney (5 mins max) then 93 to Wimbledon (25 mins in morning)? How are you making it take an hour?

It sounds from your description that Harrodian is a strong academic competitor now - it wasn’t when we were initially looking and I don’t know anyone with kids there.

Would walking over the bridge to Latymer Upper be an easier commute for your son rather than KCS?

Where did you son feel most at ease? Mine had a strong preference for KCS over StP but I know other boys who felt the exact opposite!

Thank you, that's a very good point. I had not yet looked at the difference in GCSE and A-Level subjects. My son seems to be indifferent about co-ed vs boys only. He's in a co-ed prep at the moment and seems to enjoy that dynamic but I think would be equally fine with only boys.

Has your school indicated on what schools he should apply to? Harrodian is hard to predict. For example some kids get offers to other schools higher up in the rankings but not Harrodian and Harrodian is seen as less academic. St Paul's and Kings are both very competitive to get into, but if your son is in prep school they are probably already guiding you for the 11+ We know kids at all of these schools. I think ultimately, your dc will get into the school that is meant for them. Apply to a few so you will hopefully have options.

Great to hear your feedback KCS. He would need to walk to Barnes station so there would be at least a 20min walk to the station, making the journey 50 mins on a good day, or more on a bad traffic day. Google maps actually suggests 2 buses to get there from our place which would take just over an hour.

Latymer Upper is also a contender and walking distance as you say. Obviously great academically but had a very urban feel to it and pupils need to travel to get to sports grounds, etc whereas Harrodian and St Paul's have huge green fields attached and everything onsite.

DS feels most at ease at Harrodian, I think knowing some of the children who attend the school is what sways his view and maybe isn't really the basis to be selecting a school that is best for him.

KCS was fabulous although DS is in hos 30s now. From a practical perspective, if you aren't dropping him, an hour is too far and I'd strike it off the lost. Also some of the KCS sports grounds off West Barnes Lane would be tricky for him to get home from

I know nothing of Harrodian except what I knew 20 years or more ago, butnif you are considering Harrodian, have you considered Ibstock?

Some schools that have lovely school grounds still have some offsite sports. I was surprised about this. So you should def visit and ask. As Kings def has sports ground offsite as well and if I remember correctly it felt quite far from where we live. My ds is at Latymer and is very happy at the school and sporty. It actually works out better for him because the sports grounds are easier for him to get home from for him. If you live in Barns, that is actually very close to LU sports ground. And for example for athletics they train in Barns.

We have an older child at Ibstock who is happy there. He takes the school minibus from Barnes station to school.

For my youngest he applied to Ibstock, Harrodian, Emanuel, Thomas’s College, Kingston Grammar as they were all reasonable commutes by public transport from the Barnes area where we live. We visited King’s but didn’t apply as we were set on him also going to a coed secondary.

The advice up the thread to select a few schools as it’s a competitive process (and they’re only 10 so easily put off their game on exam day by a fever or a late night) is really sound and your prep head should be guiding you.

Travelling to sports grounds isn’t really an issue so don’t let that put you off - the younger ones get a coach there and can either coach back to school or be dismissed from the grounds if that’s an easier journey home. Mine are all rowers which I couldn’t have predicted when they were little and literally never set foot on school sports grounds.

KCS - lime bike to Barnes overground instead of walking? There is a Barnes contingent at KCS but I’d guess given a choice, most local families would pick StP.

It’s an interesting point to look at GCSE options etc, especially if you’re a bilingual family or keen on particular languages. KCS and StP are not likely to offer options like media or film studies - they’re teaching a more uniformly academic cohort whereas Harrodian has historically been more mixed ability so may have a wider selection of subjects.

It’s also very easy to be swayed by facilities and polished marketing. Your son will really engage with a fraction of what’s on offer at any of these amazing schools - there simply isn’t time to do everything- so prioritise what’s most important to you.

If journey time is a priority, then Harrodian looks perfect. If Oxbridge entrance is a priority, you might want to look at their leavers’ lists.

I know a couple of families who are really happy with Ibstock (runs a minibus from Barnes) and while it’s been a marmite school in the past, you might like to look there too if journey time is your priority?

Yes they have and at the time of the conversation we were very focused on proximity to school so KCS did not come up in the discussion. They have said that he should go for St Paul's but it would be his one of his stretch options as it is so competitive. I did feel in their other recommendations they did push the schools they feed or are part of the same ownership group. I do understand this it is one of the purposes of a prep is to come up with some secure options where they have high confidence of an offer and more of an influence but the list of schools didn't feel particularly tailored to my son or his strengths and interests. I felt they hesitated to suggest Harrodian to us and also to other families possibly due to the unpredictability of receiving an offer from there. Also due to the small 11+ intake - approx 40 pupils, and even numbers of boys and girls which means there are essentially 20 places.

I’d just apply to them all and see how he gets on! Lots of boys get offers from St Paul’s and not KCS and vice versa. Harrodian appears to be a hit and miss as to who gets an offer and Ibstock is generally easier to get in.
Would agree that LUs grounds shouldn’t be an issue as all very near Barnes and perfect for getting home after games or fixtures. Also a nice cycle ride from Barnes to school.
Also know boys not getting offers from LU and getting into St P and KCS so I wouldn’t rely on any schools as being easier to get into.
Emmanuel also not too bad a journey from Barnes.

Yes, this is very true. You just never know. We know someone that got into St Paul's and not Latymer. We also know two girls that got into G&L, but not to Emanuel. We know someone that got into Kings, but did not get into Latymer etc. Best is to apply to a variety of schools and once you have the offers then debate about things like distance, facilities etc. From your location I would apply to St Paul's, Kings, Latymer, Harrodian and perhaps Emanuel.

Agree with @SamPoodle123 @lndmum23 , very good suggestions. Also, we know families from Barnes that are in Emanuel due to Rowing Boat house in Chiswick but cross bridge to Barnes station. It seems easy to get train to Clapham junction and for keen rowers.

My advice would be to sit exams for your favourite 5-6 options and then see what offers you get.
Your DC will also get a feel for each school each time he visits.

In our experience, in Y5 we were considering schools up to an hour away. Then in Y6 puberty hit and our DD really struggled to wake up in the mornings! So I decided only to apply for schools within 35mins commute - and in the end she chose the nearest one that is 5mins walk!!

Thanks for sharing your experience, hopefully that has worked well for your DD. Yes I do think about that for my DS as well as our overall family balance in attending Saturday sports etc and other commitments. We also know families where children have changed schools after a few years as the child had had enough of the long commute time. Proximity to home has always been a priority but then I wonder if I'm ignoring a more important aspect of school selection since so many families are willing to commit to 1 hour commute times to attend the school that suits their child best.

The irony is - it is usually St Paul’s and HarrodiN that they would commute an hour to! So you’re v lucky to be so close to such fantastic schools (those were our two that we then dropped) :)