Our Guide to Clapham
Education in Clapham
Clapham is well served on all sides with excellent options in the state and private sectors across the age ranges. Both Lambeth and Wandsworth boroughs, whose boundary splits Clapham down the middle, have a diverse selection of independent and state primary and secondary schools. There are no grammar schools in the immediate area, but selective streaming (a kind of ‘grammar-lite’) remains at two of the local secondaries. Some families travel to the neighbouring local authorities of Kingston and Sutton for academically selective schools.
Public transport links – including rail, tube and bus – allow for relative ease of travel when it comes to school journeys across London, out into the suburbs and beyond; an important consideration when parents are weighing up their options. A good number of independent schools run their own bus services with pickups and drop-offs at a number of local stops.
Living in Clapham
When people refer to Clapham, they generally mean the areas around the famous Clapham Common, the largest unenclosed open space in south-west London. First recorded in 880 AD as Cloppaham – Old English for ‘homestead by the hill’ – the village of Clapham received a mention in the Domesday Book in 1086. These days you’re more likely to hear it referred to as ‘Clappo’ or ‘Clahm’.
Clapham is also forever associated with Clapham Junction, the busiest railway station in the UK (although it is actually in Battersea). Train lines feature quite heavily in this neck of the woods and the Northern Line runs along the southern edge of the common connecting Clapham South, Clapham Common and Clapham North with the City and central London.
The common’s 220 acres of grass, parkland and ponds host a wealth of sporting activities and annual events. It’s fringed by classic Edwardian and Victorian London housing stock; all Little Greene paints, waxed wooden floorboards and preserved original fireplaces. Many new or soon-to-be parents move to the area – it’s nicknamed ‘Nappy Valley’ for good reason – with their only prior Clapham experience having been an evening at famed mainstay of London nightlife, Infernos.
Clapham is a major cultural hub too. Venues such as Battersea Arts Centre, Omnibus Theatre, the Clapham Grand and Clapham Picturehouse cinema offer everything from exhibitions and arthouse films to stand-up comedy.
Local history is peppered with the names of notable figures: Samuel Pepys (diarist), William Wilberforce (abolitionist) and Benjamin Franklin (US Founding Father). The list of literary Clapham dwellers is vast: Graham Greene, Kingsley Amis, Angela Carter, Elizabeth Betteridge, Graham Swift and JK Rowling, to mention a few.
Looking for the best schools in Clapham? Our education consultants can help.
Good Schools Guide education consultants successfully help parents from all over the world find the best schools for their children. Our UK team is spread across the country, each expert with their own specialist areas of knowledge. If you would like us to help you find a school place or are keen to know more about your family’s education options in Clapham, we are ready to help. Read about our education consultancy services or get in touch – consultants@goodschoolsguide.co.uk.
Your thoughts on education in Clapham
Are you a seasoned Clapham campaigner? Perhaps you know Clapham well but somewhere else even better? We would like to hear from you. We depend on our network of parents and teachers to make sure the advice and information we publish is accurate, complete, relevant and up to date. Please write to us at editor@goodschoolsguide.co.uk.