Knightsbridge School

67 Pont Street, London SW1X 0BD

Profile: Knightsbridge School is a co-educational pre-prep and prep school in Knightsbridge for children aged 3 to 13 years. It is a young school opened in 2006 to address the shortage of pre-prep places in Central London and has quickly gained popularity. It focuses on Classical education, laying strong foundations in literacy and reasoning, as well as on raising well-rounded children with  a wide extra-curricular programme. The Junior School teaches the major components of the national curriculum (including English, Mathematics, Science, History, Geography, Religious Studies, Music, Art) and Swimming, Judo, Fencing and Ballet are also offered. Additionally, pupils take French for two lessons a week and children also have to choose a second Modern Foreign Language (Italian, Spanish, Mandarin or Greek).

There is an extensive extra curricular programme which includes Music, Karate, Ballet, Tennis, Athletics, Cookery, Judo. There are roughly 400 pupils on roll. As the school strongly supports a “walk to school” policy, many pupils live in Knightsbridge or close by neighbourhoods Belgravia, Chelsea and South Kensington. Given the nature of these areas, the pupils profile is very international and over half the pupils speak English as an additional language, even though many have been born and brought up in London.

The founder of the school, Mr Magoo Giles, has moved on from his role as Head to the role of Principal of the school and appointed Ms Shona Colaço as Headmistress. According to current parents, the school is friendly, inclusive, supportive and gentle. It is not a hothouse, if that is what you are looking for. The school has been rated “Excellent” across all areas in its most recent ISI inspection in 2016.

Admissions: Knightsbridge School is a very popular school and early registration is recommended. The nursery is in fact so popular that it only accepts siblings of children already at the school. For 4+ Reception entry, Knightsbridge School currently only accepts registrations for September 2020 entry and after. What you can see here is that one the one hand, yes, you need to register early, but even at such a popular school, it doesn’t mean you have to fax in your registration from the labour ward as sometimes implied by press reports. As long as you take care of it before your child’s 2nd birthday, you will usually be fine. Once registered, children are admitted by assessment and parent interview. It helps to have friends with children at the school, although this is by no means a prerequisite.

Exit Results: Being a young school, exit results for Knightsbridge School are less informative than results of schools established since decades. Their first group of boys and girls passed the 11+ and 13+ exams in the past four years, so the school is just building up its track record. So far, popular destination schools have been Francis Holland, City of London School, Latymer Upper, More House, Queen’s Gate and Queen’s College for the girls, and Latymer Upper, Harrow and Dulwich College for the boys, among others. Some children have also moved onto the American School in London. In 2017, pupils have achieved offers from superselective schools such as St Paul’s along with offers from G&L and Latymer Upper, so it is certainly starting to look like pupils move on to the full range of London day schools along with popular boarding schools.

At the 7+/8+ level, some Knightsbridge School pupils gained access to such top prep schools as Westminster Under, St Paul’s Junior and Bute House, although the school certainly prefers children to stay until 11+ / 13+.

Further resources:

• Knightsbridge School website www.knightsbridgeschool.com
• My Knightsbridge School visit
• Latest Inspection Report (2016) by the Independent Schools Council