The best pre-prep schools in the UK

In this difficult economic environment, you might expect parents to delay school fees for as long as possible, but The Good Schools Guide reports: ‘More and more prep schools have started pre-preps over the years, partly as a way of drawing in parents early on.'

During the past five years, The Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS) has invited eight standalone pre-preps to join the organisation and its ranks have been swelled by more than 40 UK prep schools that incorporate a pre-prep. Another eight members have extended their age range to include 3-7 year olds.

What are the benefits of investing in your child's education this early? One pre-prep head compares education to building a house, explaining: ‘The foundations have to be very strong to support all the future learning.' Likewise, a mother of three adds: ‘Pre-prep is where children learn to love learning.'

At the best of these schools an imaginative curriculum, great facilities and specialist teachers are a given-at a fraction of the price of prep or public school-but plenty offer much more besides.

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