Singapore Expats

Hi there,

We might be moving to London in 6 months' time but are clueless about schooling in London at all. Anyone transferred from there and can advise us
of some good private elementary schools? My son is 8 years old.

Zillion thanks!
happy piano mommy

Hello; there are many excellent private schools in London; prep schools start from age 7 -8 (known as Year 3). Your son may be in Year 3 or Year 4, depending on his birth date. There will be a change to 'big' school at age 10-11 (at the end of Year 6) or in some boys prep schools at age 12-13 (at the end of Year 8). Most schools have an exam for Year 3 entry, and there are usually one or two spare places to be found for children coming from overseas into the other Years - give the schools a ring and ask.

It depends on whether you prefer single-sex or co-ed, and which part of London you choose to live in, really. Have a look at the Good Schools Guide website (you can subscribe on-line) and the one for the Independent Schools Council.

There are also several schools that stick to specific national curriculums - American, French, Japanese.

(In addition to which there are many excellent state primary/church schools as well. They are often hard to get into as they are extremely popular. Siblings get priority, and the schools tend to have very small 'catchment' areas so if you rent/buy a property, enquire at the school to check whether your house/flat is within it.)

Hope this helps.

First of all London is a big place, so would advise checking against your area....as travelling at rush hour in the car is a nightmare and the Underground is packed!

Hi Kamadafuji,

Thanks for your reply. U mention there are some excellent state/church school? Can give me a few names for my searching? We lived in London before eight years ago when we just married. For schooling, I have no
idea at all. Mind to share some co-ed schools you know of?

Million thanks!

I think we going to need an area you thinking of moving to because as you know its not Singapore.
Church schools are good but you will have to have proof of baptist certificate and for CoE you will need a letter from your church stating you been to church for appro past 18 month.
Even then you will still need to be in the catchment area of that school.
Where is your husband going to work, which area are you thinking of moving to.

London is huge, and stuffed full of schools. You'll have to browse it online, get a feel for the areas you might want to live in. Much like those who come on here trying to work out where to live in Singapore, you might start by looking at Areas Where You Will Be Working v Routes From Home To That Place Of Work, and then take the school question from there.

I can help out out with tips on my small area of north London and also collect tips on other areas for you, but you'll need to give me / us some clues!

Thanks for all the thoughtful input. He'll go to London for 2 weeks and hopefully we can have more clue about the moving to London. BTW, he's working in around Liverpool Street station.

From Liverpool Street Station he could get out into the country side - nice parts of Essex which has very good grammar schools but my friend has a 2 hour train journey each way so that her kids can go to a good Private school and hopefully when they 11 be able to be accepted to the Grammar school. But the entry exam is very high so please dont get excited.

Please let him find out the cost of the train ticket per month as it cost me something like £30 each way to visit her......Yes my eyes watered alot.
Please come back with more details of areas
Also there are london parts of Essex that is nice but again I only know of Public schools ( Private Schools)
Inner London good schools are very very hard to come by hence most people I know send their kids via the private education route.
I am not sure Companies in the UK pay it but if they did its a taxable benefit which you will need to pay tax on.

City of London would be a snip away from Liverpool Street but is very hard to get into and very costly. Am sure there are plenty of state schools dotted about - you might try looking up the east side of the red (central) line which has some good grammar schools. Forest School (can't remember full name) is a good one, so I'm told. You could then live in the Woodford / Leyton areas of London which have nice, leafy bits.

In fact you could do what my husband (who works in L St) does. We're on the Northern Line and for L St you just need to get on our line and get off at Moorgate and walk down to L St. That way you get the whole of the Northern Line (which goes from north to south) to choose from. North London is nice but then I am biased, being from here For schools, north London is stuffed full but they are all oversubscribed and often hard to get into.

Start by choosing a place to live, running your eye down the tube lines from Liverpool Street. Pick a nice spot (use search engines for reviews) and then look for schools. Take a few days/nights and lots of coffees and by the time you have narrowed the search you should have some concrete questions to ask.

Yes, it is good to make a start by deciding where you might be living or working. Have a good look at the Good Schools guide website or ISC's for all the schools in that area.

As a South Londoner (waves across the river at MakingtheMove!) the Battersea/Dulwich/Wandsworth/Clapham/Balham areas have many excellent schools, state and private but the state ones will be over-subscribed and will have small catchment areas. If you move slap bang next to them, you increase your chances. Dulwich Hamlet and Rosendale Schools are very good.

Top private schools are Thomas's (Clapham), Eaton House (the Manor), Broomwood Hall, Hornsby House, Thomas's (Battersea), Newton Prep, Alleyn's, Dulwich College, Dulwich Prep London.

Thank you so much for all your inputs. My hubby'll work there for 2 weeks this month and hopefully get a better idea of where to live. Our initial thinking will be south-west. Any Londoners know of good elementary schools there? I totally agree of your suggestion to find an area before researching for good schools. Have a nice weekend everyone!

you can try there for League table to give you some idea.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education/