Parents camp out in 'Wimbledon

The queue outside South Hampstead High School of parents lining up to submit their application forms

Parents of prospective pupils at all-girls South Hampstead High School waited for hours before the school opened its doors in Netherhall Gardens at its latest open day - in scenes likened to the tennis tournament's annual queues.

Mums and dads came prepared with folding chairs for the long wait to apply for places at the first possible opportunity, some two years before their daughters would attend the school in 2015.

The school operates a first-come, first-served system, and only accepts the first 250 applications to fill just 24 places.

A spokeman for South Hampstead said: 'It is always one of the most exciting days for the school when we open registration. We always have a huge demand. The parents knew there was a cut-off at 250 so they wanted to be sure their forms got in on time.'

The school closed registration on the same day because it had already met its threshold.

Other private schools, including all four of North Bridge House's schools, in Hampstead and Camden, have seen an increase in open day inquiries despite the economic climate.

Registrations for 2014 at the nursery school are up by 24 per cent on the previous year, and at the junior school, applications have increased by 34 per cent.

Headteacher of North Bridge House Nursery and Junior Schools, Robyn Allsopp, said: 'We are pleased to confirm that North Bridge House is more popular than ever.'

A spokesman for University College School in Frognal said most schools in the area had reported a rise in applications but she had never heard of parents queuing around the block for places before.

The Hall school in Crossfield Road, Hampstead, which asks prospective parents to register before their child's first birthday, has seen a 10 per cent rise in applications in the last year.

Chairman Barnaby Lenon of the Independent Schools Council, which represents private schools, explained the increase: 'Independent schools are the most academically successful and offer excellent teaching and a wide breadth of extra-curricular activities.'