rugby wrote:I would suggest that every prospective parent should have clarity from the horses mouth on current progression policy before they join, and query it a year before each progression.

thanks, I'm on it but still waiting to hear from them so they can explain it properly. All this application process is really new to me...

I would suggest that every prospective parent should have clarity from the horses mouth on current progression policy before they join, and query it a year before each progression.

Its exam entry for external candidates but continuous assessment for children already in the pre-prep. From what I hear, its quite rare for pre-prep kids not to be offered a place in the Prep...

thanks..makes sense...so all you do you hope your kid can stay? why the fee then? and if they don't go through what do you do with an 8 year old?

They don't offer prep places at Eaton house as it is exam entry

Very late to the party..but having just moved to the area I tried registering my son (already 26 month old ) fro pre-prep at EH and we received the registration saying he has a definite place so a bit confused as I really thought there was no chance whatsoever. any idea how that is possible at all? Interestingly though he doesn't have a definite place for prep..
It is not my first choice as we want Holy Ghost in Balham but if there are issues there I wanted some back-up even if it might cost me a term.
any advice/similar experience?

I'm not sure if this helps, but we were offered a place at Eaton House mid-November this year to start reception 2015. Our daughter was put on the waiting list at 18-months old.

Thomas' is the last school to make offers so you will know whether you get a place at Eaton before you get any offer from Thomas'.
I wouldn't stress about the wait list. All parents put their childrens names down at most of the schools, and coupled with those moving out of London, abroad etc, you'll definitely get into one of them. I've rarely heard of a child in these parts who was down on the waiting lists of all the usual independents who didn't get into one school or another.

Do you know when first round offers are typically made at Thomas and other local schools such as Broomwood Hall?

My husband and I took a tour of Eaton House this autumn and really loved it for our daughter. She is very clever but a bit shy and I am worried she will get lost at Thomas. She now has a place on the wait list for Eaton House but because we were very late discovering the school we are at the bottom so IF we get a place it will be last minute, perhaps after the Thomas offers come out.

Both good schools

You can't blame other schools for Thomas' being later to inform people of places.

It's an open market.

Eaton House have a very honest and straightforward management and ownership. (from many years of parental experience)

Thanks for all the answers everyone! For some reason NVN does not notify me anymore when I have answers, so I just thought I was ignored .

we paid the Eaton House deposit and received it back when we cancelled our place in July (for the following Sept (minus the 250 or so admin fee)). we were told it was non refundable when we paid it and when we cancelled our place they told us we'd only get it back if they could fill the place which you'd think they always could...

There is an open day this weekend - so maybe pop in for a quick look to see if it helps ?

Good luck !!

We were in a similar position 5 years ago and reading this thread has brought it back to me! It was all a bit later back then, I think February time, and our dilemma was that our son was on the 'interviewed waiting list' (as I think they called it) which meant they needed a boy born in the same month to turn their offer down. Meanwhile, the clock was ticking on our deposit due date at Eaton House...

I was asked to call Thomas's every two weeks from the day we received our waiting list offer to see if there had been any movement. We really liked both schools and had several weeks to really think about our options. By then we'd had a second boy, loved the look of Eaton House, the fact that boys can stay until 13, followed by an impressive list of schools they send onto, they get to play sport on the Common right in front of the school and have their lunch break there in the Prep, take part in a brilliant selection of after school clubs and matches and to be taught in an environment that 'gets' boys and understands how differently they learn from us girls.

We chose Eaton House confidently in the end and I felt huge relief that I wouldn't have to call Thomas's again to check on that list once we'd written the cheque! We've never looked back, the boys love it and we're really pleased with our choice. That's not to say that we don't have friends at Thomas's who love it, as well as lots of the other local schools. Let's face it, around here we're spoilt for choice, be it independent or state and I'm pretty sure most people are ultimately pleased with wherever they choose to send their children. It's an individual choice and often a gut feeling. And in our case, there was no way we were going to throw a few thousand pounds down the drain accepting one over another and then going with the one that offered second!

Hi, or you could phone the bursar at Eaton House and see if they can help. They are a business, but I've found them pretty reasonable when you explain the situation. Good luck! x