Kew College Prep

We love this smart London prep that combines academic success with a happy and warm atmosphere. Creativity is as important as classroom learning with pupils throwing themselves into the arts, music and sport, enjoying their school days without a long shadow of exams hanging over them. It’s no wonder places are competitive, especially as it offers wraparound care and full-time nursery provision (and a guaranteed place in reception).

Located in leafy Kew on a quiet residential road, Kew College Prep comprises two tall, handsome buildings connected by a reception and small hall on the ground floor and a library on the first floor. There’s a decent-sized playground (lined with sheds full of educational activities that open during break) spanning the width at the back, and another school building running along one side named the Octagon, which houses reception, one Year 1 class and Year 2. There are plans afoot to convert the current Year 1 classroom in the Octagon into a second nursery classroom, with pupils moving to a new space in the main building alongside the second Year 1 class.

A further two buildings two doors down are accessed via a gate at the back of the playground and a public footpath. Year 5 and 6 classrooms and the art room can be found here in the converted Upton house; while a big hall, two music practice rooms, the ICT suite and the science lab are located in a new build in the garden which is called the Sedum building after its living green roof. Pupils currently eat lunch in their classrooms, but that’s all set to change in spring 2026 when the finishing touches are put on a shiny new kitchen and proper dining room.

Between the two buildings on this site is a quiet garden courtyard. It sounds a little bitty, but it all works beautifully with a peaceful homely feel across the two sites. It’s well connected: Kew Gardens Tube station is minutes away, Kew Bridge station a 10-minute walk and there are good bus connections too, with the school running its own minibus service to and from Chiswick which parents can sign up for as and when they need it, even the day before. Most pupils live in Kew, Richmond and Chiswick, and come to school on foot, scooter, bike, car or bus.

Head Jane Bond is chatty and approachable. She clearly loves engaging with the children while pursuing her mission to ‘maintain the good stuff, build what we need to put in place and tweak as we go along’. She’s been at KCP for five years and has already built and tweaked for the better, with hot lunches and the aforementioned wraparound care and full-day nursery provision all now on offer. Specialist teaching for sport, music, art, French and IT is also a passion, with most delivered from nursery. ‘This means that pupils are getting input at a good level and meeting different adults; they are not with one class teacher all day,’ she tells us. Her staff are a great mix of ‘energy and experience’ with lots of younger teachers. She’s happy the school is a standalone charitable trust prep as it means money is reinvested with no third-party involvement, and she’s most proud of the ‘happy, well-rounded children’ at the school.

Numbers are strong; there are currently 270 pupils with a two-form entry in reception which is maintained up the school with a maximum of 20 in a class.

Nursery is non-selective and a nursery place guarantees one in reception - their nursery now accepts children straight after their third birthday, as part of their rolling admissions process. For entry into reception, children come in for a taster session with one of the reception classes, and for entry into Years 1 and 2, children are invited to a trial morning and have an informal chat with a member of staff. Entry to Junior House (Years 4 and 5) involves a more in-depth chat ‘as academics are fairly pacey’, Mrs Bond says.

From nursery, each form has its own classroom, with a form teacher and teaching assistant (from Year 3, one teaching assistant works across two classes). Pupils move around for sport, dance, music and IT, with a specialist French teacher visiting each form in their classroom. The rooms are all light and bright with interactive smartboards and their own mini-library. Guided reading starts in Year 1, and Years 5 and 6 continue reading out loud; this term a new reading scheme called Little Wandle has been introduced, which really helps to foster a life-long love of reading. Every class has a timetabled weekly library lesson and the library is a lovely calm space with full-height windows, comfy banquettes and books arranged by genre. It’s open for Year 3 pupils onwards at break and lunchtime, and children can start borrowing books from nursery age. From Year 2, pupils go to the lab for science where they learn about everything from circuits to bones; Year 6 dissects lamb hearts. The ICT suite is impressive and children graduate from learning typing to coding and web design.

From Year 5, all pupils are prepared for the 11+, including taking mock exams and having interview practice tailored individually depending on which school a child is applying for. The 2025 results were stellar, again, with close to all the pupils getting offers from the likes of Hampton, St Paul’s Boys and Girls, Lady Eleanor Holles and Godolphin and Latymer, with a total of 38 scholarships offered to the cohort of 31 pupils. 

The small hall is used for PE and dance, and an Astro rented from the school opposite is used for Year 1 and 2 outdoor games. The school also has use of Priory Park Club in Kew for junior games. From Year 3, children travel by coach two afternoons a week to King’s House School Sports Ground on the other side of Chiswick Bridge where they play netball, football, rugby, cricket, hockey (for Years 5 and 6) and do athletics and cross-country. Years 3 to 6 have the opportunity to participate in mixed sport. Pupils in Years 3 to 6 have swimming once a week at Pools on the Park in Richmond. There is a full fixtures calendar in all sports across the three terms, and the school participates in borough, ISA and London school events. 

The delightful art room is a hive of activity with children dressed in art overalls painting, sketching and modelling clay. On the day of our most recent visit the Year 6s were busy making slippers. Children in Years 3 and 4 also take part in arts and crafts club and fine art club. Each key stage has a choir, and there is also a wind band and string group who perform at least once a term, both in school assemblies and in the wider community. Peripatetic teachers come and teach in the two practice rooms, each of which has a piano – the most popular instruments include clarinet, violin, guitar and drums. 

Drama is taught to Years 3, 4 and 5 and LAMDA is available as an extra from Year 3. Summer plays by reception and Years 2 and 4 are performed in the big hall, and the Year 6 summer play is performed on a professional stage at the Musical Museum, just over Kew Bridge.  

Clubs are on offer from reception and include fencing, arts and craft, young engineers and a variety of sports activities. Reception pupils have timetabled outdoor learning in the autumn term in Ham woods, relocating to Kew Gardens in the spring and summer terms. Nursery children, meanwhile, get stuck into twice-weekly outdoor learning sessions at Priory Park. Once the Year 6s have taken the 11+, they run a Young Enterprise club with groups pitching ideas Dragons’ Den-style. Each group has a moderate start-up fund and work towards a day when they sell their product to see who makes the most money (all of which goes to charity).

Small pupil numbers mean a watchful eye is kept on every child, with class teachers and TAs supported by a head of pastoral care. Little ones have ‘worry monsters’, while the older pupils have worry boxes to post concerns in. The school’s Art Buddies initiative sees Year 6 children buddy up with younger pupils to get stuck into creative projects, and there are also regular visits from the charity Pets as Therapy, as well as dedicated wellbeing afternoons once a term.

There’s great communication with parents and pupils told us they feel well supported: ‘Everyone gets to know you and knows if you are sad,’ the head boy says. SEN provision is good; there are 40-odd pupils on the SEN list who receive extra support in group and one-to-one sessions. ‘Generally they thrive with support,’ says the head.

Wraparound care kicks off with breakfast club at 7.30am, open to everyone from nursery age and up. Parents are an involved bunch, with a PTA that organises balls, discos, quiz nights and fairs.

There’s a really happy, grounded feel to Kew College Prep. Results are incredible, but they aren’t achieved at the expense of fun and freedom. ‘We offer bespoke advice for each pupil, but we are not an exam factory or a hot house’, says the head. ‘The school strives for a perfect balance between creativity and academics. We want them to enjoy their time at school and their childhood’. You can’t ask for much more than that.