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Schooling Advice

Education consultations for parents

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Expert advice

We work only with well established and highly regarded professional education consultants.

Gain understanding

The UK Education system can be baffling; an education consultation allows you to properly understand the system.

Save valuable time

Your time is precious, and so of course, are your childrens' futures! Allow a skilled expert to carry out the research for you.

Education Consultations


We are often asked if we can provide specific schooling advice and although we do not provide education consultations ourselves, we do work with an excellent consultant Mel, who we are able to refer you to, who can assist with your school search and/or relocation. This is a fee based service and you would deal directly with Mel following referral. Mel can provide a fee quotation based on your individual requirements, with prices starting from £175.


Consultant Background

Mel is a well established and highly regarded professional education consultant, with a background in the City of London; having spent several years at a high end concierge service, advising high net worth individuals on schooling choices. She is a parent of school age children herself and understands the complexities and pressure of the decision making process, she has a huge breadth of experience offering bespoke advice on schooling and relocation within the UK.


Services

Whether you are the parent to a small baby and want to get ahead with registrations for private schools or you have an older child due to start school imminently and you don't know where to start, help is at hand. From setting out the very basics of the UK education system for non-British parents, who are relocating to the UK, to an in-depth analysis of your school admission chances; you will be presented with all your options in a simple, easy to digest manner, enabling you to make the right choices for your child. Mel never takes a fee from any school she recommends, enabling her to remain totally independent.


Available services include:

  • UK education system explanation (independent and state schooling)
  • State school admissions advice and support
  • Independent school selection and admission or assessment guidance
  • Benchmarking assessment papers in English and Maths for children aged 6-11 years (to ascertain readiness for selective school entrance exams or identify areas of development for external tuition)
  • Full review of education options for those relocating to or around the UK

Prices

Consultations are available to members only; They are tailored to your personal requirements and prices vary according to the level of work required. Please contact us via our member's helpdesk for a fee quotation based upon your individual requirements.

Below is indicative pricing:

  • Basic (£175): 1 hour brainstorming consultation covering one location for both independent and state schooling, or two locations if just one sector
  • Intermediate (£275): 60-90min brainstorming consultation for those wishing to discuss/compare several scenarios, locations or sectors
  • Independent School analysis and Vacancy Search (£350-£699): Written report with detailed breakdown of Independent School vacancies across an agreed search area. Consultant will identify suitable recommended schools, ascertain availability, set up tours and introductions and support children through the application process.
  • Bespoke Standard Report (£350-£499): Bespoke written report covering up to three locations and one sector. Price subject to complexity of request
  • Bespoke Advanced Report (£599-£850): Full relocation consultancy services for those relocating domestically or internationally and looking to identify areas, narrow down searches and be supported through the application process

Testimonials

We just went through a highly stressful move from Seattle, USA to the London area, but we were so glad we engaged Mel early in the process. She always explained things clearly and answered our questions, she even got on a Skype call with our older son who was very hesitant about concepts such as all-boys schools and uniforms. The result was both boys placed in an excellent school and two parents that could breathe easier about a critical piece of the relocation. We would highly recommend Mel's services to anyone moving to the UK with children

Our Consultation with Mel was absolutely invaluable. She explained the whole process to us, provided Ofsted Reports and data for our local schools and nurseries and prompted us to discuss things we hadn't even thought about!

Mel helped us navigate prep school options in a very clear and balanced way, with recommendations and advice that was completely tailored to our situation and requirements. She also gave us a very helpful 'back to basics' overview of the whole school system. Mel was great to deal with - she was knowledgeable and professional, but at the same time she was very approachable and easy to talk to.


Frequently Asked Questions

Grammar schools are a form of academically selective state school which exist in certain parts of the UK (but not everywhere). As such, they are extremely oversubscribed and ‘in year admissions’ (joining at any time other than age 11 and age 16) are unusual and very selective. Mel can assist families in understanding the Grammar School admissions process at age 11 and the options available, but will also help families to consider other options when Grammar schools are full/not an academic option.
In short, yes. UK schools are very well equipped to support children with EAL (English as an Additional Language) and will offer additional classes to help. That said, most selective schools, especially independent schools, do require children to sit an entrance test if joining from age 7 onwards and this test will require a working knowledge of English and, if the children are older, a grasp of exam technique too.
No. You can only secure a place in a UK State School (primary or secondary) once you have a confirmed address in that area. Once you have that address, you complete an application form listing your preferred schools. If those schools have vacancies in the correct year groups, your child(ren) will be offered a place(s). If those schools do not have availability, the council cannot increase class sizes to accommodate your child, so will offer you an alternative in the town/borough where you live.
Day schools in the UK cost on average £13,000 per year at Prep Level (taking into account differences between rural/urban areas and a London-premium), and £20,000 per year at Senior Level. These fees are term time only, excluding extended day care, school trips, music lessons, uniform and (sometimes) lunches.
For those of you who are not familiar with the English education system, it will not be immediately obvious which year group your child will be in, if they were to move to an English school. We've built a tool that allows you to enter your child's date of birth and it will tell you which year your child would be in now and next academic year; try it here.

Mel works alongside Locrating as their official Education Consultant. Most foreigners don’t understand the educational system in this country, especially if you perhaps haven’t grown up here (although 50% of Mel’s clients are British, so they don't understand it either!). Mel’s service can help users to do the following:

  • Understanding the complexities of the system itself - what happens when, what terminology is used and how to choose between the systems.
  • Clarify the differences between the state and independent (fee-paying) schooling systems in this country so parents can understand WHY people choose to pay, what the perceived advantages of doing so are, what differences exist between the state and independent systems and how people move between them and 'mix and match'.
  • Independent school selection and admission or assessment guidance.
  • What independent options are available in a specific location or locations; how their admissions processes differ, what deadlines and timeframes you need to know, how to choose between schools and where do children go afterwards. Sometimes parents only want to discuss one sector, state or independent, but they want to compare and contrast the options in that sector within two different areas, sometimes parents have specific requirements, like wanting a certain language to be taught at a school or supporting a particular educational need or disability. You name it, Mel will cover it!

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(Available only to Members)