...Choosing a boarding school in the UK


Dr Martin Stephen, chairman of Warwick International College, an international maths and science sixth-form college, believes that international students “grow in maturity, are resilient and happy in their own company”. He adds, “They are more open-minded than many of their stay-at-home contemporaries, more curious, and much better at meeting new people for the first time. They are more independent, by which I mean willing to make their own minds up rather than simply following the gang.”


EXTRA ACTIVITIES


Indeed, at Stonyhurst, Ms Hughes says that it is engaging in activities together outside school hours that really creates the bond between students. “Doing things together is what builds memories and forges friendships,” she says. “To be happy and settled at school, making good friends is very important, and most boarding schools have a huge range of opportunities for your child to share their interests with others.” Most boarding schools will offer extracurricular activities that include a wide range of sports, music, dance, drama, art and photography. It will be worth checking that the activities on offer during the evenings and at weekends at the school of your choice match the interests of the child and the family.


Age Group


Sixth Form Senior Junior


Overall % Change


Boarding Fee


£10,736 £10,217 £7,572


£10,317 3.6%


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Day Fee (Boarding Schools)


£6,633 £6,104 £4,590 £5,827 4.3%


ENTRANCE EXAMS


Some boarding schools will require prospective students to take an entrance exam, but, as Tessa Howard-Vyse, of Mayfield School, explains, “Entrance exams are not there to trip you up.” Often, the entrance test is a useful device for schools to ensure that they can make appropriate provision for the individual child. Of course, there remain some highly selective boarding schools for which the tests will be extremely challenging, but this will be made clear during the application stage. With the proliferation of the wide variety of boarding options in the UK, there will be a school that caters for the needs of most families.


FEES


Fees will vary from school to school, from region to region, and across the different boarding options. Junior-school fees are typically lower than senior-school fees, while fees for sixth-formers are the highest charged by boarding schools. The average termly fee in the sixth form is around £7,000. In the junior years, it is a little over £4,000. The table below, from the Independent Schools Council’s annual census, offers a good snapshot of the fees that boarding schools charge for each stage of learning.


Day Fee


(Day Schools) £4,673 £4,522 £4,028 £4,313 3.7%


Day Fee (Average)


£5,111 £4,822 £4,078 £4,541 3.7%


Overall Average Fee


£7,004 £5,748 £4,140 £5,373 3.5%


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