Prep Schools – A Tough Decision?

Written by Liam Butler

As the credit crunch bites it seems that many parents are cutting down on ‘luxuries’. This should mean a sharp downturn in pupils entering the independent sector and an increase in people moving into the state sector shouldn’t it? Perhaps not as more and more parents consider their child’s independent education to be a necessity rather than a luxury.

However, many parents are still forced to decide between prep and senior education, and continue to ask themselves when is the best and most cost effective time to put their child into an independent school. Surely you can just move a child at 11 or 13 into an independent school can’t you? The simple answer is yes, of course you can but perhaps this is ignoring the potential benefits of a prep school education.

Prep schools generally cater for pupils aged 7 upwards and children then move onto their senior schools at 11 or 13. They are a perfect way to ‘prepare’ children for their senior school years of GCSEs, IB, A-Levels or even Pre-U. It could be argued that by choosing to put your child into a prep school you are not only giving your child a short term benefit but ‘investing’ in their future. At aged 11 or 13 pupils are expected to take a school entrance exam like the Common Entrance paper or perhaps try out for an academic award via a much tougher scholarship paper. It should be noted that prep schools will teach a curriculum that lends itself to these senior school entrance exams so it might be the case that prep-school attendees are given an ‘upper hand’ when it comes to gaining entrance to their chosen senior school.

Small class sizes, great facilities, fantastic pastoral care and enthusiastic teaching staff are just some of the many reasons parents choose a Prep school education for their child. A prep school education means investing in the future, and not just ‘the now’.

For free impartial information from ISCias (ISC information and advice service) on all types of independent schools including prep schools, you can call 0845 SCHOOLS (7246657) or email information@isc.co.ukWe are available to help week-days 9-5.

By Liam Butler – Information Officer

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• An Independent Education: Promoting Flexibility and Choice
• How much of the population actually went to independent schools: 7% or 14%?

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 26th, 2009 at 3:36 pm by Liam Butler and is filed under ISCias, Prep Schools, Private Schools. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.