Best private schools in Richmond

Many Richmond preps focus on preparation for the 11-plus, with a cluster – Kew Green Prep School, Kew College Prep, Broomfield House School and Unicorn School, all co-ed and to year 6, close enough to Kew Road (the main thoroughfare linking Richmond town centre with Kew Bridge) to inspire a particularly vicious version of Monopoly. 

Up on Richmond Hill in a crenelated building fondly known as The Castle, The Old Vicarage School remains proudly single-sex (girls aged 3-11), providing another walk-to-school option for local parents (just because you can exercise your 4x4 on Richmond’s congested roads definitely doesn’t mean you should).

All minimally selective, at least in the youngest years, these local prep schools send leavers on to a range of senior schools, including top performers in the borough itself (Hampton School, Lady Eleanor Holles School and St Paul’s School), further into London (Latymer Upper School, Godolphin and Latymer and St Paul’s Girls’ School) and beyond, including neighbouring counties such as Surrey (for further information, see our Surrey Area Guide).

For parents in search of a more traditional prep model, King’s House School – recently co-ed – goes to year 8, at which point pupils typically secure places at Eton College, Harrow School, Brighton College and Winchester College.

Other preps outside central Richmond, including The Mall (co-ed to 11), Newland House School (co-ed to 13) and Jack and Jill (co-ed to 11), all offer minibus services from central Richmond, while girls whose brothers attend Tower House School (all boys to 13), can catch a morning shuttle bus into Richmond to The Old Vicarage School.

Slightly further afield, ultra desirable and selective St Paul’s Juniors in Barnes (all boys) and Lady Eleanor Holles Juniors (girls) in Hampton start at year 3. Hampton Pre-prep (co-ed) starts in pre-school and finishes in year 2. Hampton Prep has now been absorbed into Hampton School in its reconstituted status as an all-through school. Seamless transition from pre-prep cannot be guaranteed as boys must sit an assessment but once started at Hampton School in year 3, they should be set to stay all the way through if so desired. Radnor House Prep, temporarily based in central Richmond, is pending a move to a permanent Twickenham riverside home. The majority of its pupils stay on for the linked senior school which is set to move to grand new premises in 2027.

Hampton Court House, within a school sausage’s throw of Hampton Court itself, takes boys and girls from nursery upwards while perennially popular co-ed The Harrodian School, at the opposite end of the borough and close to Hammersmith Bridge, starts at reception. Other options include St Catherine’s in Twickenham – an all-through, all-girls Catholic school and, popular with the thriving German community in the area, The German School in Ham (co-ed from age 3).

While many families choose to stay local at primary school age, Richmond’s excellent transport connections make options closer into London relatively reachable and – in some parents’ eyes - worth the longer day, particularly where a prep place smooths the transition into a linked senior school. A few stops by tube are Latymer Prep from year 3 (automatic entrance to oversubscribed Latymer Upper in year 7). Stay on the train for Westminster Under School (becoming fully co-ed from reception), where most, but not all, will make the grade for Westminster School). Closer to home, King’s College Wimbledon Junior School (all boys from year 3, 95 per cent to senior school) is one of many offering its own transport from Richmond.

Other schools whose minibus routes have extended, tentacle-like, into Richmond include Surbiton High School’s distinctively green-liveried coaches (separate girls’ and boys’ prep schools) and Claremont Fan Court School in Esher (2-18, catch the bus from year 3), while swathes of west London and Surrey are criss-crossed by routes operated by international all-through schools including ACS International School Cobham, ASC International School Egham, TASIS England and International School of London, some door-to-door (depending on age and location).

There is only one private senior school in the town of Richmond itself. Thomas’s College (co-ed from year 7) opened in 2025 and carries a name that is widely known among SW London parents for its popular prep schools. That reputation, coupled with an enviable location (Richmond Hill), may well prove a draw with local and London families. Time will tell. 

More broadly, across the London borough of Richmond-upon-Thames, private schools are abundant. All are, to some degree selective, but also surprisingly varied in approach. St Paul’s School (all boys aged 13-18) in austerely beautiful buildings close to the River Thames in Barnes is the natural habitat of the effortlessly gifted polymath (though results are stunning, they don’t do league tables). Lady Eleanor Holles and Hampton School (girls and boys respectively, both from year 7) dominate one end of the long (if not winding) Hanworth Road in Richmond’s far western reaches, both achieving consistently excellent results. Apart from St Catherine’s in Twickenham (an all-through, gently selective Catholic girls’ school) all Richmond’s other senior schools are co-ed and relatively recent additions to the lively educational landscape.

Set in delightful grounds, The Harrodian (all-through, 4-18) was previously a country club for employees of the eponymous store. Parents of its 1,000 plus pupils love its progressive approach (including no uniform) and excellent results. It’s an approach shared by Hampton Court House (2-18) now settling down after some turbulence at the top – and with a zest for innovation (including a later start to lessons for sixth formers). Meanwhile it’s all change at all-through Radnor House, with senior school pupils due to move into lavishly refurbished Kneller Hall (formerly the Army’s music school).

If the school choice in Richmond is extensive, add in other areas within easy reach and it’s positively extravagant, with transport choices to match. Tube travel puts many London schools within reach, including perennial favourites Latymer Upper School (co-ed), Godolphin and Latymer, St Paul’s Girls’ School, with Kew House (co-ed) just the other side of Kew Bridge and St James Senior Girls’ in West Kensington offering an inclusive and distinctive approach.

A number of schools further into the home counties – Chertsey-based Sir William Perkins’s School, currently becoming co-ed, Reed’s School, all boys with a co-ed sixth form and St James Senior Boys’ School in Ashford – run minibus pick-ups in, if not quite from the centre of Richmond, then fairly nearby.

Other schools such as Wimbledon High School (all girls), Emanuel School near Clapham Junction and Kingston Grammar (both co-ed), shun minibus services altogether (and given their excellent public transport links and traffic-choked approach roads, you can’t blame them). Ibstock Place School (co-ed, all through and in nearby Roehampton), runs shuttle services from Barnes Station to its stunning campus. 

But for energetic sunrise spotters, minibuses that iron out otherwise tricksy travel arrangements can be a deal-breaker for Richmond early birds. To the south, they’re offered by Surbiton High School (girls senior school), King’s College School Wimbledon (currently boys with a co-ed sixth form, but transitioning to fully co-ed), and going north, to Ealing, St Benedict’s School (co-ed, all through), Notting Hill and Ealing High School (girls, all through) and the International School of London. Out into the home counties you’ll find Claremont Fan Court (co-ed, all through to 18), Halliford School (boys, co-ed sixth form), international schools (ACS and TASIS), Heathfield School (girls, 11-18) and LVS Ascot (co-ed, reception upwards).

With no independent special schools within Richmond itself, parents will need to look slightly further afield for options. Most – like their state counterparts – only accept pupils with EHCPs but even where self-funding is an option, the cost – often at least £100,000 a year and above – is prohibitive. Blossom House School, Merton-based with two other sites, is a speech and language specialist, taking children aged 3-19, some with social communication needs, and able to access a broadly mainstream curriculum. Roehampton Gate School, part of a for-profit private group, supports secondary-age pupils with autism in purpose-built premises close to Richmond Park.

Centre Academy, close to Clapham Junction, is a small, cosy school where pupils, aged 11 upwards, who work towards qualifications including GCSEs, have a broad range of needs headed by autism but also including specific learning difficulties, ADHD and anxiety. For primary age only, Chelsea Hall School supports pupils with autism, moderate learning difficulties and speech, language and communication needs, while at Burlington House School pupils aged 7-19, all with a main diagnosis of dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia, flourish through an approach which seamlessly integrates learning support into the academic curriculum. Finally, Canbury School (co-ed, 11-18), in next door Kingston – mainstream and SEN inclusive but not a special school - combines a challenging curriculum with extensive support.