2 Arkwright Road, London NW3 6AE
Profile: Devonshire House Preparatory School is a co-educational preparatory school catering for boys aged two and a half to thirteen and girls aged two and a half to eleven. It houses the Oak Tree nursery for children aged 2.5 to 4, from where children can automatically join the Reception class at Devonshire House. It is a large school with four to five classes of 20 children each in the junior school. The facilities are excellent and very modern compared to many other London prep schools, with plenty of outside space.
It is one of the top preparatory schools in Hampstead with very positive parent reviews (except if yore looking on mumsnet – there seem to be a few ardent sceptics there!) and excellent inspection reports that praise teaching quality, academic quality, personal development and pastoral care at the school. The school has a wide mix of international expat families, and there are breakfast clubs and after-school clubs for working parents, which is a very attractive feature of the school.
Family owned until recently, Devonshire House is now part of the Dukes education group. Experienced Head Mr Henry Keighley-Elstub (previously Headmaster of Pembridge Hall in Notting Hill) was appointed new Head in September 2022.
Admissions: The first point of entry is the Oak Tree Nursery. Children need to be nappy free when they enter at 2.5 years. There are part-time and full-time places at the OTN. Children from the Oak Tree Nursery are automatically accepted into Devonshire House Preparatory School. Entry into Reception is by 4+ assessment,
generally made in January/February before proposed entry in September. Children are seen, when possible, in a group. All children are asked to complete the same tasks and detailed notes are taken both of their approach and the results. Every attempt is made to assess potential rather than current attainment.
Exit Results: Girls leave the school at the 11+ stage, while boys continue until 13+ for Common Entrance. Girls and boys go on to leading North London Day schools as well as popular boarding schools. Common co-educational destination schools are Highgate and Mill Hill, girls tend to move on to Channing, Francis Holland NW1, South Hampstead High School and North London Collegiate School as well as CLSG, while the most common destination schools for boys are UCS and Merchant Taylor’s School, along with some leavers to St Paul’s, Westminster, City of London and Wetherby Senior.
You can find the full history of results from 2019 – 2022 here.