Independent school advice, built around your child.
McFry is an independent school consultancy helping families find the right independent day or boarding school for their child, wherever that search might lead.
Finding schools is easy. Finding the right fit is harder.
That's where the McFry approach comes in. I combine intelligent technology with a structured five-stage methodology to search more widely, challenge potential matches and verify what really matters before a school reaches your shortlist.
A school can be excellent and still not the right fit for your child.
Academic approach and rigour, pastoral care, boarding culture, additional needs, personality, interests and family circumstances all matter. I look beyond reputation and prospectuses to understand where your child is most likely to belong, thrive and be happy.
How I can help
School Search & Shortlisting
Finding the schools worth exploring
A tailored search using the McFry methodology to identify, investigate and compare independent and boarding schools that genuinely fit your child and family.
Admissions Support
From shortlist to placement
Practical support with school enquiries, conversations, visits, applications and offers, helping you navigate the process with clarity and confidence.
Military Families
School continuity through Service life
Dedicated support for Armed Forces families considering boarding, CEA and school choices alongside postings, mobility and the realities of Service life.
Why work with McFry?
McFry combines both.
My methodology helps me search widely and systematically, but school choice can't be reduced to data. I bring professional experience across independent education and school governance, alongside first-hand experience as a parent navigating boarding, additional needs and military family life.
That means I don't simply ask whether a school looks like a match. I question the assumptions, investigate the potential compromises and speak directly to schools to understand how things actually work.
The technology supports the search. The judgement remains human.
Technology can uncover possibilities. Experience knows what to question.
Experience behind the methodology
Education experience
Experience across independent education, school governance and education more widely, with an understanding of how schools work beyond the prospectus and admissions process.
First-hand understanding
A boarding school parent and military parent, with personal experience of navigating education for children with different learning and support needs.
Professional training
British Council UK knowledge trained counsellor, with training in the UK education system and the national code of ethical practice for education agents.
Ready to start your school search?
Tell me a little about your family, where you are in your school search and what you'd like help with. Your first 20-minute discovery call is free, with no obligation to go further.