Foreword

Independent School ADMISSIONS Plus

William Clarence Education Ltd Green Park House, 15 Stratton Street, Mayfair, London W1J 8LQ Tel: +44 (0)207 412 8988

EDITORIAL

Editor Iris Jackson iris@williamclarence.com

Editor-in-Chief Steve Spriggs steve@williamclarence.com

PRODUCTION

Design & Print Constructive Media roger@constructivemedia.co.uk

ADVERTISING

Sales Iris Jackson iris@williamclarence.com

PUBLISHER

William Clarence Education Ltd William Clarence Education is a leading UK education consultancy working with independent schools throughout the UK, and British international schools overseas. williamclarence.com schooladmissionsplus.com

DISTRIBUTION

Print and digital copies of Independent School Admissions Plus are distributed to named head teachers, principals, marketing and admissions leads in every independent school in the UK, plus British international schools overseas. The magazine is published twice a year.

© William Clarence Education. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the permission of the publisher. The information contained in Independent School Admissions Plus has been published in good faith and every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy. All liability for loss, disappointment, negligence or damage caused by reliance on the information contained within this publication is hereby excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Front cover: Cranleigh School in Surrey making a good first impression. See page 14.

There’s a peculiarly British habit of trying to undermine something that’s proven, successful and admired around the world, and sometimes UK independent schools get caught up in this tangled net of negativity.

Media watchers will have no doubt read at various points in the past few months, stories ranging from urging independent schools to widen their access at one end through to scrapping their charitable status, slapping VAT on fees or even outright abolition of the sector at the other.

Given the current general mood of political uncertainty it is impossible to know which, if any, of the various ‘doomsday’ scenarios may actually come to pass, which begs the question of where this actually leaves the thousands of excellent independent schools spread across hundreds of miles from Exeter to Elgin.

Fortunately for parents the answer is simple. While politicians and journalists chatter away, British independent schools are getting on with the job they have done for decades or even centuries, providing the very best education and all-round development for young people from two to 18 years.

So, for the parent looking for the right school for their child, the choice across the independent sector remains extraordinary, perhaps even bewildering. Large schools, small schools, city schools, country schools, day schools, boarding schools, junior schools, senior schools, co-ed schools, single-sex schools, all-round schools and specialist schools.

Whatever pre-school, primary or secondary education question any parent might have, the UK independent sector, as ever, has the answer!

Robin Fletcher

CEO, The Boarding Schools’ Association