School Advisory

The Advisory Consultation

Fees on application

We provide expert one-off advisory consultations designed to give you clarity and confidence in making decisions about your child’s education or upcoming school admissions. Tailored entirely to your family’s needs, The Advisory Consultation offers clear, actionable guidance drawn from our deep expertise in the UK education system.

Our consultations cover every stage of a child’s school career, with advice spanning independent and state schools, as well as UK-based international and bilingual institutions. We also offer specialist insight into school admissions across London, Surrey, the Home Counties, and the South West of England.

This service is ideal for families relocating to the UK, moving within the country, or simply seeking expert advice on the best local options. For those who do not require a full school search, The Advisory Consultation provides a focused, highly effective solution.

The Advisory Consultation generally focuses on one region, enabling us to provide detailed and relevant advice. Families may either book a separate consultation for each region of interest or consider our more in-depth service, The School Search, for broader insights across multiple areas.

Should you wish to continue working with us, the fee for The Advisory Consultation can be credited towards one of our more comprehensive school packages - The School Search or The School Placement - ensuring a seamless transition to ongoing support.

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The School Search

Fees on application

The School Search is designed for families seeking to identify the most suitable schools for their children in London, Surrey, the Home Counties, or the South West of England. In this service, we offer more than a shortlist of schools – we focus on the why behind each school, ensuring that every recommendation meaningfully reflects your family’s values, aspirations, and your child’s unique strengths.

In the first consultation, we explore your family’s priorities, educational goals, and potential school pathways, before reviewing a longlist of schools within your specified search area(s) (usually limited to two regions, e.g., Surrey and The Cotswolds).

Where age-appropriate, we incorporate our bespoke assessments, The APT or The ESB Assessment, alongside a review of your child’s most recent school or nursery reports. This provides a detailed understanding of your child’s academic abilities and potential, which – together with your feedback – guides the refinement of the longlist into a shortlist of schools.

During the second consultation, we undertake a detailed review of your shortlisted schools, discussing each option in depth and developing a personalised admissions timeline to guide the next steps. Families also receive our comprehensive school summaries, which go beyond headline information to explore the finer details of each institution. The final shortlist typically comprises no more than six carefully selected schools or pre-schools, chosen to reflect your aspirations as well as your child’s academic strengths, character, and wider interests.

Once delivered, you are fully equipped to navigate the admissions process independently, with the option of further support available through an upgrade to The School Placement service.

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The School Placement

Fees on application

Let us expertly plan and manage your entire school admissions journey with our best-in-class placement service.

This service is perfect for families wishing to register their child at birth, plan a long-term educational pathway from ages 2 to 18, or consider schools across multiple school locations across the UK. It is equally suitable for international families and UK-based families unfamiliar with the British education system, or those facing complex admissions challenges or requiring intensive support to secure a school place at short notice.

As with all our services, The School Placement is director-led, meaning families work directly with founder Edward. We offer unlimited consultations and assessment services, including The APT and The ESB Assessment, with no restrictions on the number of schools we review or locations we consider. Our focus is entirely on identifying the best-fit schools for your child and your family. For older children, we conduct a comprehensive analysis of their academic potential, character, and broader interests, ensuring our recommendations align with both your aspirations and your child’s strengths.

Once your longlist has been refined into a shortlist of no more than six carefully selected schools, we provide end-to-end support throughout the admissions journey until your child secures a place. This includes managing school admissions forms and registrations on your behalf, creating a tailored admissions planner, and maintaining ongoing communication with the schools to which you are applying. We offer advice on both accompanied and independent school visits, guidance on assessments, and the flexibility to schedule consultations at any stage of the process. In addition, we support families in preparing for competitive entrance exams, interviews, and group sessions - facilitating introductions to trusted tutors where required - and provide counsel when it comes to making the final decision, particularly if multiple offers are received.

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The School Search

Fees on application

Offered at a fixed fee, this service is ideal for families looking to identify the most suitable schools for their children within a defined location and without requiring further assistance beyond their shortlist of schools.

Following an initial consultation to discuss your family’s priorities, educational goals, and your child’s academic potential, we conduct comprehensive research into all available and achievable school options within your specified search area.

Where age-appropriate, The School Search utilises our bespoke assessments, such as The APT or The ESB Assessment, alongside a review of your child’s most recent school reports. This provides a comprehensive understanding of your child’s academic qualities, serving as a key indicator – along with your qualitative feedback – when narrowing down your list of potential schools to a final shortlist.

During the final consultation, you will receive a maximum of six to eight carefully selected school options that best match your search criteria. Each recommendation is thoughtfully chosen to align with both your aspirations and your child's academic abilities, character, and broader interests.

Once you receive our recommendations, you'll be fully equipped to navigate the admissions process on your own. However, should you require additional support, we are always available for further consultations through The Advisory Consultation. Alternatively, you can opt for an upgrade to The Bespoke Service for more personalised assistance beyond your shortlist of schools.

The Bespoke Service

Fees on application

Let us expertly plan and manage your entire school admissions journey with our best-in-class service.

This service is perfect for expectant parents in central London wishing to register their child at birth (a service we also offer), families considering schools across multiple locations, or those planning their child’s long-term educational pathway from 2 to 18. It is also suitable for international families or UK-based families unfamiliar with the British school system, as well as those facing complex admissions challenges or requiring intensive support to secure a school place at short notice.

The Bespoke Service places no limits on the number of schools we review or locations we consider – our sole focus is on identifying the best-fit schools for your child. For older children, we conduct a comprehensive analysis of their academic potential through The ESB Assessment or The APT, ensuring that our school recommendations accurately reflect their academic ability, character, and broader interests.

After narrowing down a longlist to a shortlist of 4 to 6 schools, we guide you through every step of the process until your child secures a place at their future school. Our support includes assisting with admissions forms, creating a personalised school admissions planner, maintaining ongoing communication with your shortlisted schools, and advising on both accompanied and solo school visits. We also offer guidance on competitive entrance exams, interviews, and group sessions (including tutor introductions, if needed). Additionally, we will be there to assist you in making your final decision if you are fortunate enough to receive multiple school offers.

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Onboarding

At the point of contacting ESB, we will book a complementary discovery call to introduce ourselves, learn more about you and your child, and discuss our services as well as our fees and any further questions you may have about our school placement service.

Getting to know your child

If age appropriate and desired, we will arrange for your child (ages 6 and above) to complete the APT free-of-charge to give us an up-to-date indication of their academic potential and their suitability to their future schools. We will also request to see your child's latest school report (if available).

Ongoing consultations and monitoring

However you choose to prepare your child for their entrance exams, we will be on hand to meet with you and your child, or your child and their tutor to discuss and review all aspects of their ongoing school admissions preparation. This will include creating a long-term framework to plan your child’s entrance exams journey, resourcing their learning, ongoing assessment via the APT and our bespoke written school entrance exam papers, and meticulous monitoring of their progress.

Year planner

Should you require one, we will create a comprehensive year planner, outlining your prospective schools’ deadlines to register your child, when you can attend their open days and/or small group tours (where offered by the school), and your child’s likely exam and/or interview and activity day dates.

Non-examined admissions preparation

If required by your child’s future schools, we will personally prepare them for their interviews and/or activity days.

ESB’s Directory

As part of our placement service, we can direct you to our trusted affiliates:

  • The country’s leading educational psychologists and SEND assessors.
  • The best local and national property finders and buyers’ agents (purchase and/or rentals) or relocation agents (personal or corporate).
  • Outstanding online and face-to-face tutors.
  • The top nanny and household staff agencies and recruiters.
  • Specialists and experts in a wide range of fields, from lifestyle concierge services and family lawyers to private banking and wealth management.

Testimonials

Working with Ed has been an absolute game-changer for our family. As the former Assistant Head of one of London’s most prestigious schools, he brings unparalleled insight into the UK education system. His advice is not just expert, it’s deeply personalised, thoughtful, and always in our child’s best interest. He understood our goals but challenged our thinking where necessary. He guided us every step of the way, with clarity and confidence. Simply put, he’s the best money can buy in London.
An Asian-European family in Central London.
Meeting with Ed has enabled us to make major life decisions about our children’s schools and where we will live with much more confidence and clarity. He really listened to our values as a family and offered expert, idiosyncratic advice which was tailored excellently to our needs and the aspirations we have for our children. Ed is thoughtful, candid has invaluable insider knowledge of the British public school system. Our only regret is not having met with Ed sooner!
A British family in West London.
We are incredibly grateful to Edward for his expert counsel and guidance helping us navigate the UK education landscape. His evidence-informed, bespoke approach ensured that every recommendation was uniquely tailored to our family's needs. Edward’s deep expertise, thoughtful insights, and unwavering support made what could have been an overwhelming process both seamless and reassuring. We highly recommend his services to any family seeking clarity and confidence in their educational journey.
An American family in Central London.
Navigating the competitive London school admissions process felt daunting, but Ed’s guidance made all the difference. His deep knowledge and strategic approach ensured our son had a strong application for top schools, with carefully considered backup options at every stage. He took the time to understand our family’s priorities and provided invaluable insights that gave us confidence in our choices. Thanks to his expertise, we now have a clear and well-structured educational path ahead. We couldn’t recommend his services more highly.
An American-European family in South West London.
We are incredibly grateful for the outstanding guidance we received during our school advisory consultations. The expertise, insight, and personalised approach made the entire process seamless and reassuring. Every recommendation was thoughtful and tailored to our child’s strengths and aspirations, ensuring we felt confident in our decisions. The level of care and professionalism exceeded our expectations, and we wholeheartedly recommend this invaluable service.
A European family in Surrey.
Ed listened closely to what we were looking for in our children's education (near and long term) and our future move out of London. He prepared a thorough and comprehensive list of pre-prep/prep and senior schools for us to consider, with valuable non publicly available insights. Most helpfully though, Ed also challenged our thinking to broaden our options and add other considerations that hadn't initially factored in our thought process. Not only did this cement certain views we already had, but it also caused us to rethink certain ingoing hypotheses. We are still making the final decisions, but Ed, through both the detailed information and also his perspectives/insights helped us sharpen our view and what to prioritise.
A British-German family in South West London.
We spoke to Ed at the end of March last year as we were moving back to the UK in the summer and needed a school for our boys to start in the autumn. Our eldest was going into Year 7 but had missed the standard assessment period and our youngest was going into Year 4, not a standard intake year for British schools. We knew we wanted the boys to go to school in Bath but needed a lot of information quickly to help us make a decision about which school to choose. We were in Singapore so couldn’t visit the schools ourselves. We had three online consultations with Ed. These were very informative and detailed discussions, which helped us make a balanced decision about our children’s future in a short period of time.
A British family relocating from Singapore to Bath.
Ed's help was invaluable. With his support, our son was able to do online standardised tests that compared our child's scores to the scores of children across the UK, and these were much more meaningful to the admissions teams at the schools than sending report cards from a school in another jurisdiction. This opened many more doors and allowed us to visit several schools and do admissions tests to find the right fit for our son who got into one of the top schools 10 in the country for A level results plus a school with excellent pastoral care to help him to integrate and be in a supportive learning environment. We are so grateful for the support received and now we can focus on settling into London life and our own careers and ambitions knowing our kids are well looked after and on the right path for their futures.
A Canadian family relocating from Canada to London.
We reached out to Ed after I saw a recommendation online. I wanted a professional with experience to challenge and reassure me that the decisions we were planning to make for our children made sense. Ed walked me through the pros and cons of the schools I had shortlisted ahead of our move from London to Surrey, and our discussion allowed me to understand in greater depth how the paths we had chosen made sense for a variety of reasons, but also he provided alternative routes we hadn't considered. Ed's time proved invaluable very quickly and we have and will certainly continue to recommend him to anyone seeking schooling advice.
A British family relocating from South West London to Surrey.
We have referred clients to ESB Consulting on a number of occasions. Most recently, a client from Canada for who we were helping find a property was in a very tough situation with a new school year looming and no place secured for her son. Ed pulled out all the stops and quite against the odds secured a school place during the summer holidays, a time when most routes to finding a school place are closed. Our client was absolutely delighted and has sung the praises of ESB to us on a number of occasions. It is reassuring to be able to pass clients to a company where we have confidence in their abilities to give excellent advice and most importantly deliver results.
A leading Mayfair based property consultancy.