Advisory for Schools
Selecting the right school
Your child's future starts with the right school
We are here to help you successfully manage one of the most important decisions in your child's life. From an initial consultation, assessment and tuition plans, we offer bespoke strategies for your family's needs. We take time to carefully consider the perfect approach and guide you through applying to the best independent schools in the U.K.
Lucy - Head Education Consultant
Lucy has spent many years working in the private education sector. As the headmistress of a leading day school in London she is well versed in the intricacies of applying to the very best private schools in the U.K.
Consultation
Your strategy for a successful U.K. independent school entry
Our consultants take the time to learn about your family and the best education solutions for you. We offer meticulous planning and strategy in tuition, profile building and school selection.
Your bespoke strategy
a thorough overview of the UK independent schools system
a carefully planned strategy for your child to enter target schools
ideal entry points / UK school stages (7+, 8+, 11+, 13+, 14+ or 16+)
advice on subject and curriculum choices outline of the preparation and admissions process
Main points of entry
Online
Private tuition via Zkype or Zoom
In person
Private tuition in your home
Residential
Have a tutor who will live and travel with you
How the consultancy process works
Consultation with your education expert
1
Every family has different goals for their children and each child is unique too. Finding the right school for your child is something to be carefully considered.
Our education consultants listen to your needs carefully and work hard to understand which schools would suit your child best. After this consultation, we provide you with a long list of 10 different schools for your consideration.
2
Assessment and consultation
Getting to know your child is crucial to understanding their abilities and personality.
We conduct an in-depth assessment of aptitudes in English, Mathematics, Non-verbal reasoning, verbal reasoning as well as interviews and psychometric evaluation. These results allow us to create an academic strategy and to understand which schools to apply.
Following this, we provide a 'short list' of 8 schools ranked in order of likelihood to be successful with a balanced outlook with safety schools considered.
3
Mapping of the process
Our team will clearly map the process of each school and their specific application process including testing and deadlines.
Our consultants will complete all of the paperwork needed to make applications.
4
Visits & boarding house advisory
Your educational consultant will visit chosen schools with you to make sure the right questions get asked.
One area of research we go the extra mile on, is boarding houses. Different boarding houses can create entirely different atmospheres for students. We interview recent graduates of leading U.K. boarding schools to help you understand which one will fit best.
What's new
Your personal dashboard
View your tutor's profile
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Review your tutor's education
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Contact your tutors
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View your tutor's availability
Track applications online
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Keep track of important deadlines
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Track progress
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View checklist of important tasks
Monitor learning progress
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View your tutor's lesson notes
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Add your own notes to your tutor
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Stay on top of the learning process
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When should I go to a UK school?The main entry points for UK schools are 13+ (just before GCSEs) and 16+ for A-levels. However, most schools also have some flexibility for 14+ entry if you miss 13+ but competition here is extremely fierce - usually just 4 or 5 places available. Prep schools also take boys from aged 7 and schools that have a large intake of day students, like Sevenoaks also take children at 11+ ( a very popular entry point for non-boarders in the UK)
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How long does it take to prepare to enter a school in the UK?The answer to this depends on a number of factors. You could argue that UK students spend 6 or 7 years in top prep schools preparing to enter the very best boarding schools. The truth is that it takes on average 2 years to prepare to enter a UK school. The main focus is on profile building, English and entrance examinations. But one should be mindful of the process. Some schools such as Eton college require registration of the pupil at aged 9, this is 4 years before the desired entry point. You really need to be on top of the process from quite a young age to put in place the necessary steps to ensure success.
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What is your success rate?We have a very strong success rate, in fact it's 100%. We are extremely fortunate to work with clients who really understand the process and appreciate how much work they need to put in. Due to this, our clients listen to our advice religiously and invest everything they can into achieving success. As well as this, we only take a certain number of clients each year allowing us to focus entirely on them. As of 2021, every single one of our students has been placed at their top choice school.
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How can Spencer Perceval help me with this process?Every year we work with a small number of clients helping them enter UK schools. We work extremely hard to understand the relative strengths and weaknesses of your child’s application and then build out a strategy to maximise your chances of success. Profile building is at the centre of this strategy. Our consultants work out how to make your child stand out from the crowd, building up an outstanding application that schools won’t be able to turn away. Our consultants are typically ex-head masters and mistresses of leading prep schools and help give you the advice you need to get into your dream school.
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What is profile building and why is it important?Profile building is a key stone of any successful application to a top school or university. Profile building is the continued process of moulding the skills of students to make them the most attractive to schools. This includes developing musical talents, sporting prowess, charity work, academic excellence and much more. We look at pupils and perform a full assessment of their skills and abilities and from this we develop a long term plan to grow in key areas that are most sought after by the most prestigious schools.
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How are you different from other consultancy firms?We centre our approach on learning as much as we can about your child and your family to find the most specialised and effective solution to your needs. Integrity and honesty remain key pillars of our company, we will give you real and pragmatic advice, and strategy to help get the best results for your family. We employ a number of tech solutions to increase transparency so that you may track our work at any time of the day online. Finally, we believe in the British education system and want as many children to have the advantages that it gives, including your family.
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What are your fees?Fees can be found here. Fees for consultancy services start range from £1000 - £13,500 depending on the level of support required.