The independent super-schools shaking up London’s property market

Dr Lisa Freedman is a contributing editor to The Good Schools Guide

Thomas’s, a family-owned school group with a royal pedigree (Prince George and Princess Charlotte started their education at a Thomas’s school), is renowned for its prep provision in central and south London. This September, it is launching Thomas’s College in Richmond, a 600-pupil, 11-18 secondary school, offering that urban rarity: boarding from year nine. Daniel Hutchins, director of residential sales at Savills in Richmond, has noted an influx of buyers moving here in anticipation of Thomas’s arrival – “and west London already has an embarrassment of riches where schools are concerned”, he says.

The school’s new home is an imposing Grade II listed Victorian building, sitting like an Oxford college in five acres of landscaped gardens, but while its setting is traditional, the educational approach here is anything but. “Founding a new school gave us the opportunity to ask fundamental questions about the education we offer,” says founding master Will le Fleming. “We wanted to mitigate the damage caused by an exam system often delivered at the cost of wider experience, creativity and individual choice.”

The curriculum at Thomas’s College will be innovative, combining the depth and rigour of A levels with a breadth often lacking elsewhere. Here, the sixth form will start in year 11 (with space for joiners at 16+), when students will major in three subjects, but also take a range of minors (for example, practical household and maintenance skills, and app development) to expand their interests and ability to cope in the real world. Thomas’s will also be launching its own qualification, the TQ, to ensure all its pupils leave with the potential to flourish, whatever their future holds.

“When David and Joanna Thomas started out in 1971, they wanted to offer something transformative,” says le Fleming. “The same sense of mission, reform and improvement will drive everything we do at Thomas’s College.”

Thomas’s is reinforcing its well-established brand by extending its age range, but others are strengthening existing schools through new partnerships. In north London, the successful North Bridge House schools in Regent’s Park and Hampstead are re-emerging as Alleyn’s Regent Park this autumn and Alleyn’s Hampstead in 2026.

“I’ve had meetings with several parents from southwest and west London who are interested in moving up here on the basis that this school is coming,” says James Diaper, director of prime residential sales at Savills in Hampstead. “It’s changed from that kind of local market who may have grown up here, left, then, as soon as they’ve had children, move back up, to a mad push from people coming from Wimbledon, Notting Hill and even Holborn on the strength of the schools.”

Alleyn’s, a famous name in education, was founded in Dulwich 400 years ago, and, as well as regularly achieving some of London’s top exams results, it is known for its outstanding co-curricular and pastoral care. To reflect the marriage, parent company Cognita is adapting the age range (Alleyn’s Regent’s Park will run from 4-13, Alleyn’s Hampstead from 2-18), and adding new facilities, such as tech studios, to deliver the school’s pioneering curriculum.

Jane Lunnon, head of Alleyn’s, is hugely positive about the expansion north of the river. “Both schools already have an incredible energy and commitment to developing the mind and heart of every child with creativity, aspiration and joy, and each child’s entire school experience will reflect Alleyn’s ethos.”

Another famous name in London education, Wetherby – whose old boys include Prince William and Prince Harry – has decided the best way to a rosier future is to form part of a larger community. It has recently joined the Inspired Education Group, which educates 95,000 students in 28 countries. This solid base has provided a platform for exciting new developments, notably Wetherby Pembridge, an 11-18 senior school, which opens in Olympia this term.

Housed in an architecturally dazzling purpose-built eight-floor space, the 500-pupil school is set apart by its exceptional facilities for the arts and sport, including a professional standard theatre and – a bus ride away – almost 15 acres of sports grounds.

“While we’re absolutely an academic London day school, we will have a strong focus on sport, and creative and performing arts,” says founding head Nick Page, formerly deputy head of both Harrow and Westminster. “The widest possible co-curricular programme nurtures student development, confidence and skills.”

Adapting to thrive is clearly a winning formula for London’s independent schools.

The Good Schools Guide

DANIEL HUTCHINS, DIRECTOR OF RESIDENTIAL SALES, SAVILLS RICHMOND
DHutchins@savills.com

JAMES DIAPER, DIRECTOR OF PRIME RESIDENTIAL SALES, SAVILLS HAMPSTEAD
JDiaper@savills.com