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The Patels · West London

Two parents, daughter aged 11, target a London independent within £35k/yr that's Outstanding-rated and shows visible Russell Group destination data.

RegionLondon
Budget≤ £35,000 per year (post-VAT 2025-26)
Year2026
Background

Daughter at top-quartile prep, predicted 8s-9s at GCSE. Family commute caps the search at Zone 1-3. Mother flagged that 2024 listed fees on most comparison sites are £15-17k off because of VAT — they want fee data they can actually trust.

Goal

Shortlist 4-6 London independent senior schools with: (a) max fees ≤£35k/yr inclusive of VAT, (b) Outstanding Ofsted or equivalent ISI rating, (c) at least one published destination edge to a Russell Group university.

Process

How the platform was used, step by step.

  1. 1
    1. Apply hard filters

    Schools page → School type=Independent, Region=London, Max fee=£35,000, Sixth Form=true. Returns ~30 schools, all 2025-26 fees verified.

  2. 2
    2. Cross-reference Ofsted

    Filter Ofsted=Outstanding shrinks pool to 4-5 viable schools. Independent schools mostly are 'Not Available' (ISI-inspected, no Ofsted) so they need to verify ISI separately.

  3. 3
    3. Inspect destination data

    Pathways → focus mode for each candidate school. Dulwich shows 22 distinct destination edges (UCL 18, Bristol 18, Imperial 16). KCS Wimbledon shows 7 strong flows including Durham 29.

  4. 4
    4. Distance check

    Map → enter family postcode (W11 area) with 8 km radius. Confirms Dulwich is too far for daily commute, narrows to KCS, City of London Boys, UCS Hampstead.

Outcome

Final shortlist: KCS Wimbledon (£34.2k/yr · 7 destination edges), UCS Hampstead (£32.9k/yr · 1 edge but strong Edinburgh signal), City of London School. Saved as user shortlist, downloaded as PDF for 11+ tutor session.

Final shortlist
king-s-college-school-102684university-college-school-100065
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All fees shown are 2025-26 academic year, inclusive of 20% VAT. · Persona is illustrative; circumstances synthesised from MVP user-research patterns.