School leaders and consultants say competition for places has now reached “bonkers” proportions.
William Petty, co-director of Bonas Macfarlane, a company that provides tutoring, as well as school admissions consultancy and mentoring told TES: “We now have the most in demand private [schools] sector in the world.
“One mother who called an exclusive pre-prep school from the labor ward, a few days after the birth, was laughed off the phone. First come, first served now means closest to the embryo.”
As interest from affluent overseas parents fuels demand in the UK capital’s admissions hotspots, a TES investigation has revealed that:
- Some parents are trying to win coveted school places for children they have yet to conceive;
- Tuition companies offering “baby packages” that will hand-deliver filled-in registration forms to schools as soon as a child is born;
- Reports of mothers booking specially-timed cesarean deliveries to try and get ahead in the admissions race;
- Three year-olds are receiving private tuition to help them get into prep schools.
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