If I truly dreamed of Merchant Taylors' Prep School for my son...
/If MTP was truly the school that I dreamed of and desired for my son to go to, I would support him to get in at 3+. They have far more places available at 3+ (32-34) than at 4+ (6-8).
So why do parents apply at 4+?
Perhaps they hadn’t thought about the 3+. Many parents I speak to have never even heard about a 3+. Well, it’s a thing. And your child will be 2 when he will sit his 3+ Assessment at Merchant Taylors’ Prep School. Oh and by the way, you do need to actually prepare your son for his 3+ Assessment.
If my son were to have sat his 3+ Assessment at MTP, he would have been 2 years and 4 months old! (July baby!) Their 3+ Assessments are pretty early in the Academic Year (November).
This year, the 3+ Assessments are on the 3rd or 4th November 2025.
In the MT’s 3+ Assessment, you can leave your child but you can also choose to stay with your child. I would suggest you leave your child (if you can!). If you want to know why, book an Additional Consultation with me.
MTP will be assessing the following:
Can your son follow instruction?
Can your son interact with the children in the group?
Can your son communicate (speak!)?
A big ask, I’m sure you will be thinking. But this is what it is. This is what they are assessing. So if your son cannot demonstrate all three of these, he will not pass his 3+ Assessment at MTP.
It’s really that simple.
So if I had wanted my son to have passed his 3+ Assessment at MTP, I would have been preparing him to follow instructions, interact well with other children and be able to answer questions to a very high standard. He would only have been able to have shown one of these. He would have only show the communication piece to a very high standard (for a 2 years and 4 month old boy!) He did not follow instructions well - he did what he wanted at that age and he had very poor sharing skills - still struggling with this currently!
If you are preparing for the 3+ or the 4+ at MTP, we will support you every step of the way to have the highest chances for success at this highly sought after school.
