Private Schools in Kensington & Chelsea

We list about 30 independent schools in the Royal Borough, London's smallest borough by area. Most are preps and pre-preps, and they fall into two groups: one in Notting Hill and Holland Park in the north, and one across South Kensington, Knightsbridge and Chelsea in the south. Many are single-sex, and several schools run separate boys' and girls' divisions under one name.

Senior provision is thin. Among the schools we list, girls can stay to 18 at Queen's Gate or More House. There is no traditional boys' senior school in the borough, so boys usually leave at 11 or 13 for day schools elsewhere in London or for boarding schools. The borough also has a strong international strand, led by the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle in South Kensington, alongside smaller French, Spanish and bilingual schools and two schools for children with special educational needs.

In the Notting Hill cluster, Pembridge Hall takes girls from 4 to 11 and does not select at Reception. Open mornings run two years before entry and offers go out in the June a year before a girl starts. Its published leavers' list covers London day schools, including Godolphin and Latymer, St Paul's Girls', both Francis Holland schools and Queen's College, as well as boarding schools such as Wycombe Abbey, Downe House and St Mary's Ascot. Nearby, Wetherby School teaches boys from 4 to 7 before they move to the group's Marylebone school at 8. It also prepares boys for other preps, naming Westminster Under, St Paul's Juniors and King's College Junior School Wimbledon.

Co-educational options in the north include Norland Place, which takes pupils from 4 to 11 with entry at Reception and at Years 3 and 4, and Chepstow House, which runs from nursery to 11. Notting Hill Prep keeps children to 13. Some girls leave at 11 for London day schools, and its published destinations include Westminster, Eton, St Paul's Girls', Francis Holland and Brighton College. Thomas's Kensington, a co-educational school for ages 4 to 11, has moved to a new site on St Albans Grove.

In the south, Glendower on Queen's Gate is a girls' prep for ages 3 to 11, with entry at nursery, 4+ and 7+. It says its most popular destinations over the past five years have been St Paul's Girls', Godolphin and Latymer and Wycombe Abbey. Falkner House runs a girls' school at Brechin Place and a boys' school on Penywern Road, both for ages 4 to 11, with a mixed nursery. Francis Holland Prep, a girls' school for Reception to Year 6, moved to Manresa Road off the King's Road in September 2024.

Several southern preps are built around 13+ entry. St Philip's is a Catholic boys' school for ages 4 to 13 that welcomes families of all faiths. It lists City of London, Dulwich, St Paul's and Westminster among its day-school destinations and Eton, Harrow, Radley, Tonbridge and Winchester among its boarding ones. Sussex House takes boys from 8 to 13 and says that in a typical year around 80% go on to Eton, King's College School Wimbledon, St Paul's, Westminster or Winchester. Hill House is co-educational from 4 to 13 across three Chelsea and Knightsbridge sites: Flood Street, Cadogan Gardens and Hans Place.

Garden House in Chelsea shows how 11+ and 13+ routes mix. Most children leave at the end of Year 6, but the pathways differ by sex. Over five years, girls have most often gone to Francis Holland Sloane Square and Wycombe Abbey. Boys have usually moved to a prep first, most often Sussex House or Ludgrove, and the school says about a quarter of its boys end up at Eton.

Many families in the borough also look just over the boundary. In Hammersmith & Fulham, Bute House is a girls' prep for ages 4 to 11 with entry at 4+ and 7+. Kensington Prep on the Fulham Road takes girls from 4 to 11 and selects at every entry point.

To the east in Westminster, Westminster Under School takes girls and boys at 4+, 7+ and 11+. Wetherby Prep in Marylebone plans to admit girls from September 2027, when it will be renamed Wetherby Pembridge Prep. Eaton Square Prep in Pimlico is co-educational up to 11.

Queen's Gate is a girls' day school for ages 4 to 18 in South Kensington. Its main senior entry is at 11+, through the London 11+ Consortium's shared test, followed by interviews in January; scholarships in music, drama, art and sport are assessed separately. More House in Knightsbridge is a girls' school with a Catholic foundation. It added a Pre-Senior for Years 5 and 6 in September 2024, and also uses the Consortium test at 11+.

Knightsbridge School is co-educational from nursery through the secondary years. Its main entry points are Reception, 11+ and 13+, and older applicants spend a taster day in their year group and sit an assessment. Collingham College takes students from Year 9. GCSE teaching is on Young Street and A levels at Collingham Gardens, with classes of nine or fewer and one-year and retake A-level courses.

The Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle on Cromwell Road teaches the French curriculum through to the baccalauréat. Its British section, founded in 1952, leads to GCSEs and A levels. For a vocational route at 16, the English National Ballet School in Chelsea offers full-time ballet training for ages 16 to 19. Entry is by audition, and Dance and Drama Awards help with fees.

Most boys, and many girls, leave the borough for senior school. The preps' own destination lists show the usual pattern: girls go at 11 to schools such as St Paul's Girls' and Godolphin and Latymer in Hammersmith or to boarding schools. Boys go at 13 to London day schools such as Westminster and St Paul's or to Eton, Harrow and Winchester.

Queen's Gate admits new students into Year 12. Applicants have a taster afternoon and interviews in the autumn before entry. It asks for at least grade 5 at GCSE in English and maths, and grades 7 to 9 in the subjects they plan to take at A level. More House also has a sixth-form entry point, and plans each student's subject choices individually.

For a smaller, more flexible setting, Collingham teaches A levels in classes of nine or fewer and offers one-year courses, and Ashbourne College in Kensington is an independent sixth-form college. Families wanting the IB Diploma should know that Southbank International School's Kensington campus is for primary-age children only. Its Diploma and Career-related Programme students are taught at the Westminster campus.

Two schools in our list are designed for children with special educational needs. Abingdon House teaches neurodivergent pupils, including those with autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD and speech, language and communication needs. Therapists work alongside teachers in the classroom. Its South Kensington site on Elvaston Place takes ages 7 to 13, with senior sites in Marylebone and Purley.

Snowflake School is a special school for autistic children, with a primary site for ages 5 to 11 and a secondary site for ages 11 to 17. It teaches through applied behaviour analysis, and its staff include speech and language therapists and occupational therapists. For specific learning differences such as dyslexia, many families also consider Fairley House in Pimlico. Where a place is named in an Education, Health and Care Plan and funded by the local authority, the council can reclaim the VAT on fees.

At 4+, register early. Pembridge Hall holds open mornings two years ahead and makes offers in June, 15 months before entry. Queen's Gate's Reception deadline for September 2027 is 20 November 2026, with assessments on 14 and 15 January 2027 and offers on 22 January. At 7+, Westminster Under School opens registration on 1 September two years before entry. It holds written tests in mid-October and makes offers in late November.

At 11+, girls applying to Queen's Gate, More House or Francis Holland sit one London 11+ Consortium test, and the result is shared with each member school they apply to. For September 2027 entry, registration closes on 6 November 2026 and the test is on 1 December 2026. Interviews follow in January, and offers go out on 12 February 2027. Many co-educational and boys' schools instead use the ISEB Common Pre-Tests, four online tests in maths, English, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning. Pupils usually sit them in Year 6 or 7, and schools use them for Year 7 entry or for deferred places at 13+.

At 13+, the timeline starts earlier than many parents expect. Westminster School's 13+ registration runs from 1 October in Year 5 to 30 September in Year 6, and pre-tests are sat in the autumn of Year 6. Prep schools that keep children to 13 usually guide families through these registrations.

On the figures we hold, most of the borough's preps charge roughly £29,000 to £35,000 a year for older children, with the top of Glendower's range close to £40,000. Francis Holland Prep is lower, at about £22,100. Queen's Gate charges from about £25,600 to £34,200 a year depending on age, and More House from about £23,400 to £32,850. Specialist provision costs more: Abingdon House is about £51,600 a year. These are day fees including VAT, which has applied at 20% since 1 January 2025.

Bursaries are limited and means-tested. Queen's Gate offers bursaries of up to 100% of fees at 11+ and 16+, and applications are usually due in late November. More House and Pembridge Hall also publish scholarship and bursary schemes. Budget for extras as well. Pembridge Hall asks for a deposit of half a term's fees on acceptance, More House charges a £150 registration fee and a deposit of half a term's fees, and Knightsbridge School's registration fee is £240.

The borough has 12 Tube stations on the Central, Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Piccadilly lines. That suits the Notting Hill and South Kensington clusters, but Chelsea has only one station, Sloane Square. Schools off the King's Road, such as Hill House's Flood Street site, Francis Holland Prep on Manresa Road and the ballet school on Hortensia Road, are mostly reached on foot or by bus.

Because so many children change school at 7, 8, 11 or 13, check the journey to likely next schools as well as to the prep. A Notting Hill prep leading to a Hammersmith girls' school is a short trip west. A Chelsea prep aimed at a Marylebone or Westminster senior school means crossing central London every day.