108a Lancaster Road, W11 1QS
Profile: Chepstow House is a co-educational preparatory school for children from nursery to Year 6. It opened in January 2010, aiming to offer high quality, independent education, maintaining the existing traditions and standards of all schools within the Alpha Plus Group. It was setup to address oversubscription at the other Alpha Plus Group schools in Notting Hill, Pembridge Hall and Wetherby School, while offering parents a co-educational alternative. Chepstow House Headteacher Angela Barr spent 11 years as Head of Lower School at Pembridge Hall prior to joining, so you can expect the school to be managed in a very similar way. Class sizes are small and the school is very strong in individual attention to each child’s progress. At the same time, there is a fair amount of homework from the beginning, so it is certainly not as relaxed as nearby Notting Hill Prep in the early years. It remains to be seen if it can maintain its individual approach following significant expansion in the last two years.
The school was inspected by Ofsted in 2018 and was rated “outstanding” in all areas. See below for the link to the full report. While originally a pre-prep school that offered children transfer to Pembridge Hall and Wetherby at 7+, the school has recently announced it will organically expand to a full prep school till 11+ / 13+ over the next years (starting with the opening of a Year 3 class in September 2014). The school also runs a nursery that offers either morning or afternoon session and is headed by former Miss Delaney’s Too headmistress, Miss Gillian Whiteside.
Upon expansion, the school moved to new premises on Lancaster Road, W11. Many families are international expats from Notting Hill and surrounding areas, and the school community is said to be warm and supportive. Academic standards are very high, thanks to its history as a successful pre-prep. A wide range of extracurricular clubs is offered after school, giving pupils the chance to try out chess, martial arts, music, fencing, gymnastics, robotics, among many others.
Admissions: Chepstow House operates a non-selective admissions policy similar to Pembridge Hall and Wetherby. It is currently slightly more likely to get a place here than at its single gender sister schools but that might change in the future.
Pupils may be registered for entry any time after birth. A registration form needs to be completed and sent to the school, with the £150 registration fee. The school has an inclusive policy and all children are accepted at registration. There are 5 allocated definite places for each month. Once those places are filled, any child registering born in the month that is full is put on the waiting list. Places are given with a view to having two places left for children born at the end of the month
Exit Results: The school prepares for 11+ senior school transfer and initial results have been encouraging. Several children of the small first cohort have moved onto Godolphin & Latymer, Latymer Upper and St Paul’s, among others. Full results are provided here!