The Prep Club

The Prep Club is an exclusive small group tutorial club taught personally by Rachel Couffignals — Oxford-educated and former Head of Lower School and Head of Gifted and Talented at Wetherby Prep in London. 

The Prep Club focuses on English and Maths and works at the pace, depth and breadth of British selective independent schools which often work a year in advance of the state system. 

Sessions are calm, purposeful, and refreshingly traditional. No iPads. No gimmicks. Just exceptional teaching, rich discussion, paper, pens, and accelerated learning. Every lesson is rooted in writing, reading aloud, structured thinking, and focused academic practice — the timeless foundations of intellectual growth.

Once accepted, your child joins a consistent, selective tutorial class of like-minded families who share the high expectations and ethos that define The Prep Club. 

Small-group teaching offers particular benefits for pupils who are secure in their learning and motivated to progress. Working alongside like-minded peers encourages articulation of ideas, healthy academic stretch, and sustained concentration, while allowing teaching to move at a faster pace than is typically possible in isolation or in a class. 

The Prep Club runs as weekly, structured  one hour sessions designed to act as a consistent academic anchor within a child’s week. Each group follows a clearly sequenced teaching plan, allowing learning to build cumulatively rather than in isolated lessons.

Teaching moves at a deliberate preparatory-school pace. Lessons are focused and purposeful, ensuring time is used efficiently and academic momentum is maintained. The session is intended to 'top up' what children learn in UAE British-international schools. Some sessions reinforce school learning; others move pupils up to a year ahead, mirroring the pace and ambition of London’s selective prep schools.

Homework is set weekly and strongly encouraged, providing essential consolidation between sessions. This allows groups to sustain depth and rigour, and work at a level comparable to British independent preparatory schools.

Focused. Fast-paced. Prep-school ready.

The Prep Club is designed for children who are ready for more — more stretch, more depth, and more challenge than the standard British-international curriculum alone provides.

Rachel is experienced in teaching pupils with varied learning profiles, including those with specific learning differences, where children are able to engage positively, sustain focus with support, and work at an accelerated academic pace within a small-group setting. 

The Prep Club exists to help families meet the standards, structure, and ambition of a true UK prep school — something remarkably rare in the UAE.