United Kingdom · London
St John’s Wood is an American day campus, not a British independent. Students live with their parents. The school does not issue a CAS. 2026–27 tuition is a published annual table, paid in two semester bills.
Este retrato ainda está em inglês. As outras línguas chegam escola a escola.
Currículo como a escola o publica:American curriculum · US high-school diploma · MSA-CESS
Línguas de ensino:English
The American School in London is a co-educational day campus at One Waverley Place, London NW8 0NP. It is an American K–12 house in St John’s Wood: Lower School K1–Grade 4, Middle School Grades 5–8, High School Grades 9–12. The school’s apply page is blunt about residency. Students must have the right to enter, live and study in the United Kingdom and are expected to live full-time with their parent(s). ASL does not provide student-visa sponsorship or a CAS. Families arrange their own status. Accepted students are asked for proof.
This is not Westminster and not Southbank. It is the London door of the climate we walk in American schools in Europe: an August calendar, a US-shaped diploma, a playground that often sounds like a posting. MSA-CESS accreditation is named in the site footer beside ISI and the DfE listing.
The useful questions are: Will this child still be in a US-shaped year if you stay past the posting? Can you live in London with the child — not send them on a Child Student visa? And can you pay a semester bill in June and November, not a British three-term Direct Debit?
Families on a US or international posting who want continuity with an American transcript. Families who will actually live in London. Families who can read a VAT-inclusive annual fee and a £2,400 capital charge for new students without pretending extras do not exist.
It will not take a child who needs the school to sponsor a visa. It will not board anyone. If the child needs a British 11+ independent or an IB-only house, you are touring the wrong gate — walk Southbank or a day independent the same week, and say so out loud.
K1 applicants must turn four by 31 August. K2 applicants must turn five by 31 August. All students must be fully toilet trained to begin. The school publishes a chart comparing US, IB and UK grade ages. Use it. Do not guess.
One Waverley Place, NW8. The switchboard the footer prints is +44 (0)20 7449 1200. There is an Aquatic & Fitness Center, a Make / Innovate / Learn Lab, the Lower School library and the Mellon Library, and a boathouse at Canons Park. Door-to-door busing is a published extra, not a rumour.
Ask to see a Grade 3 classroom and a Grade 10 corridor, not only the atrium. Time the school-run from the flat you will actually rent. St John’s Wood is not “central” if you live in Dulwich.
Lower School (K1–Grade 4). American elementary. Home-learning and behaviour pages exist on the school site.
Middle School (Grades 5–8). An eight-day cycle. That sentence matters for clubs, sport and the bus.
High School (Grades 9–12). US high-school diploma, university advising, the same eight-day cycle. Confirm AP, IB, or diploma-only language on the current high-school curriculum page. We will not invent a 2026–27 course list.
Semester dates the tuition page prints for 2026–27: Semester I 24 August–16 December 2026; Semester II 5 January–9 June 2027. That is an American clock. British independents are still talking in Michaelmas.
Applications go through the admissions portal. 2027–28 applications open on 1 September. Families who want the first — the school says “most advantageous” — round should finish by 15 January. 2026–27 applications were still being accepted when we read the page; the school advises calling admissions about space in a specific grade before you start a mid-year file.
Lower School requirements the apply page names: 2½ years of records including the current autumn, in English; one confidential teacher recommendation (forms can go out from 1 November); an applicant questionnaire (also from 1 November); and a £360 including VAT application fee, waived if you are applying for financial aid.
Middle and high school have their own portal checklists, including a standardized testing page. Read that page. We will not invent which test a Grade 9 needs.
Financial aid is need-based, awarded annually, and can cover tuition and some extras including the SLD programme and trips. Mark it at application if you need it. The application fee waiver is the first practical kindness.
Annual tuition, including 20% VAT, from the official table:
| Division | Excluding VAT | VAT | Including VAT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower School | £36,020 | £7,204 | £43,224 |
| Middle School | £39,990 | £7,998 | £47,988 |
| High School | £41,610 | £8,322 | £49,932 |
Paid in two equal instalments. Semester 1 is due 1 June 2026; Semester 2 is due 1 November 2026. Tuition paid by those dates is refundable until 15 June / 15 November if the school has written withdrawal notice by that day. After those dates, no tuition refund. Mid-semester withdrawal does not reduce the bill. Late accounts more than seven days overdue can attract interest at 3 percent above base rate.
One-time and extra costs the same page names
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Application (incl. VAT; waived for financial-aid applicants) | £360 |
| Tuition / re-enrollment deposit (incl. VAT, non-refundable) | £3,000 |
| Capital fee, new students (incl. VAT, one-time) | £2,400 |
| SLD support, part-time (incl. VAT) | £4,896 |
| SLD support, full-time (incl. VAT) | £9,624 |
| Bus, two-way, per year | £4,990 |
| Bus, one-way, per year | £3,250 |
For a full year, the £3,000 deposit is applied without interest to Semester II. For a single-semester enrollment it is not. The capital fee is for all new students. Tuition covers textbooks, laboratory fees and required activities, except the Ecology trip and the Music Tour. Athletics, Model UN and service-learning travel are extra. PCA voluntary dues appear on the first bill.
A first-year Lower School place is not “about £43,000.” It is application + deposit + capital + two semester bills + bus if you need it. Do the sum on the live tuition page.
Once a family is resident in the UK, payment is normally in sterling. Families not yet resident may pay the application fee and deposit in US dollars at the school’s rate. Other currencies are not normally accepted.
Ask how you will hold the visa without a CAS. Ask which grade the age chart actually puts this child in. Ask whether the first-round 15 January file is realistic for your posting date. Ask what SLD support costs this year if the child needs it. Ask to see Lower and High School, not only the lobby. Walk Southbank the same week if the leaving paper might need to be an IB Diploma.
We are not ranking ASL against Southbank or a British independent. We are not inventing an AP or IB course list, a 2027–28 tuition, or a waitlist. Read the current tuition and apply pages before you sign a lease in NW8. This is a map. The school still has to be the right Tuesday.
Páginas e documentos oficiais que lemos. Se um número importa para o orçamento ou a candidatura, abram o link e confirmem que ainda vale.
Orientação amiga, não uma candidatura. Datas, propinas e programas mexem-se. Confirmem tudo com a escola.
The useful London map is not a league table. It is which river, which leaving paper, and a commute you should time in January rain, not on Open Morning.
15 minAs letras do diploma importam. Não são a criança inteira. Aqui vai como distingui-las sem dor de cabeça, e sem fingir que todas as portas continuam abertas.
16 minNão precisam de um algoritmo perfeito. Precisam de algumas verdades sobre o vosso filho, uma lista aborrecida no frigorífico, e a coragem de ignorar um campus bonito que não serve.
15 minAs propinas são o número da página inicial. O PDF é o que chega em Março. Aqui vai como ler o segundo, sem inventar um euro, uma coroa ou um prazo.