I'm looking for a good sixth form with boarding...

St Bees has an open day tomorrow if you are interested.
Good Luck in finding a sixth form :)

Woodbridge in Suffolk is a lovely school. St felix just along the coast in Southwold I know less about other than it has a great swimming pool. :)
Also Framlingham College, but I do know of students who have moved from Fram college to Woodbridge for 6th form but I guess it depends on the subjects you are looking for.

If want somewhere very international and academic with a focus on languages then Hockerill Anglo-European is worth considering although 6th form is 100% IB. It is a state boarding school so different to the others on your list - facilities probably not as good but much cheaper and with a broader social spectrum. Large number of children from all over Europe especially as 10 minutes from Stansted airport so easy for travel.

Keswick is a state boarding school, they offer A levels, BTECs and a combination of both. Yes, its a state school but classes in the sixth form average around 10/12 and they have great results. The boarding house has recently been rated "Outstanding" as has the school itself. The head is really into education and getting the best out of the kids. There is a good pastoral system.

I know its not one of the schools that your DS has specified but it is an excellent school.

Also, if you really want independent, then St Bees school is excellent. They offer weekly boarding for the price of a day student (they have ful boarding as well) and they had a 100% pass rate in 2013 for A Levels. They have a swimming pool and are very sporty. They have a music department and offer lessons.
Their boarding houses have recently been refurbished and the new head has really brought something special to the place.

I know they aren't the schools you want but I have had kids at both and they have done very well. I think St Bees would suite your DD better but Keswick is also a good school if your worried bout cost :)

Blundells has strong swimming and fantastic pastoral care.

For something a little different, what about The United World College of the Atlantic in Wales? 100% international, 100% sixth form, 100% boarders. IB only.
Scholarship required from - IIRC - either the school itself or from one of the National Committees (with some parental means testing).

I need to stop using my phone!

Basically they get an equitable number into Oxbridge as many of the other schools on the list. Similar results to uppingham, rugby etc. they do the Pre U in some subjects - and I think all schools who do the Pre U recognise the need for greater differentiation for their top pupils than A levels offer, plus want a more academically demanding qualification.

Everyone I know who has had DC at Shrewsbury has been pleased with what their child has achieved - whether they've been pushed to do their best, or stretched as an academic high flyer. Lots of friends pleased with the real all round education.

It does have an interesting catchment. Not very many from the South East - strong Herefordshire, Cheshire, Yorkshire contingents. I think where you live and the prep schools you know really do affect where you hear people going to. I've rarely come across Canford, Sherborne, Sevenoaks for example, but lots to Shrewsbury, Oundle, Uppingham, Oakham

Posted too soon!

Up there with Uppingham, Rugby etc

I think their ethos is to get every child to achieve their potential - which will be AAA for some, or BBB for

I don't think that's a fair representation of Shrewsbury. It may have some truth lower down the school, but entry for Sixth Form girls is academically competitive. Their results are certainly up there with Ipp

It was Uppingham that had the all new girls together house. I have heard poor things about Uppingham since and glad we didn't go there. Lots of pupils not working that hard apparently. Bored and miles from anywhere.

We know a couple of staff members who work at Sevenoaks and they say its the most businesslike school they've ever worked at. Pupils are treated as clients and the pressure on teachers is enormous. They feel it is a very impersonal environment.
Rugby has a good reputation and we know two sisters who have passed through there. Can't recall what A level grades they got but one sister's at Exeter while the other is at Oxford so can't have done too badly.
Shrewsbury has a bit of a reputation for taking those who fail to get into other schools. This may be a completely inaccurate perception of the school and I don't know anyone who went there or who has considered to for their DC.
Caterham doesn't have many full boarders. It does have a growing reputation but I would be concerned if my child was one of the few at school over the weekend.
Ditto Oundle
Charterhouse clears out at weekends and again may not be the best place for your daughter.
Uppingham is full boarding and may be a more suitable school for an overseas pupil? Fantastic school.y
Marlborough is incredibly popular at the moment. We didn't like the atmosphere and felt uncomfortable when we looked around.
Canford is being talked about quite a bit on here. I don't know anything about it.

Your first priority is ensuring the school has the right ethos for your daughter. She needs to feel comfortable as it'll be her home for two years and it would be wrong to just choose a school because its been recommended by someone. We looked at numerous schools for our DC and it felt like a never ending conveyor belt of school visits. Was worth doing though.

In DDs full boarding school, they had more exeats in upper 6th. So even with full boarding many go away from school. Some stay, of course. There are no hard and fast numbers in a boarding house. Some schools have separate boarding for lower and upper 6th. If it is a small school, there may not be 60 in each year group. Schools differ in how they group children in boarding houses, but we did rejected one that put the new 6th form girls into one house. All the newbies together seemed not to promote integration and it is one on your list. I think it is really important to know where your DD will fit in and where will have the best teaching for her subjects. Also for art subjects, being near London is a real bonus as schools tend to visit exhibitions for inspiration. More to do at the weekend too. Remote schools can be a bit, well, remote. Lots to think about.

I'd say most, if not all, of the schools on your list are at least 50% full boarding. So it's not really a worry in that sense.

But the question you need to ask the school is how flexible they are on pupils going home at the weekend (Saturday to Sunday). Some schools will say they are 100% full boarding (and parents will pay full boarding fees) but will be happy to let pupils go home on a Saturday after lessons and sport. I know for example Charterhouse used to empty out a lot in Sixth Form on a Saturday afternoon until Sunday evening.

So you need to ask how many boarders they have in on an average weekend.

It's great if you have family in the UK who DD can visit if she chooses, but I think it's also great if there's a vibrant boarding community over the weekend with activities on offer (and time to chill). Often Sixth Formers are allowed into town for meals in restaurants. Some schools have a bar on site where students are permitted a limited and highly controlled amount of alcohol! Plus there will be formal dances and dinners etc.

In terms of Sundays, lots of schools let parents/family visit and take students out for lunch (and often friends get invited along on such trips). Some will go home for the day (and DD is bound to be invited to Sunday lunch by new friends who are heading home!) but it really depends on the how far away home is for the students.

In my experience lots of Sixth Formers enjoy a laid back Sunday as a time to chill at school and then to get a head start on work, especially if they fill their weeks with plenty of sport and other extra-curricular activities.

Most boarding houses average about 60, often each yr will have its own common room, corridor, cooking area, and at bigger schools weekend activities can be organised by yr group. Even at full boarding school most allow children home on Sunday for the day and many will go, Sundays are often quieter especially at those which have school on Saturday; all with a high % of weekly/full boarders, boarding is very tiring, children work hard, they get up early 6 days a week, campuses are often large with lots walking, sport at least three times a week plus other activities, so Sunday is a time to relax be with friends usually in house and just chill out, this is why she needs to be in a school with lots of full boarders otherwise she could be rather lonely.

Hurtwood House? Nearly 100% boarding, some boarding is coed, 6th form only college. It's strength is in the performing arts though.

Dallam School near the lake district. Its a state boarding school,mixed comprehensive. Oustanding at Ofstead. All in all a very normal good school that caters for the local community as well as offering accommodation for boarders.

Box Hill School? It is an international school, and a lot of international boarders so a large proportion of full boarders. It's co-ed as well.

My DS has full boarded for 9 years and there have been times when he's been one of only a handful but probably more than 25% in all weekend. IME it's never worked well. Friends who's DC's full board at a well regarded predominately weekly boarding school would say the same thing. At most senior schools your close friends are likely to be those in your house, most houses average about 12 per year therefore if 25% stay in you're talking about your daughter and one or two others staying in, schools are also less likely to run weekend activities for small number its just too expensive.
If I was you I'd start off looking at those which have a high % full boarding, that's most on your list, and only consider the weekly boarding schools in the unlikely event that not one of the full boarding ones feels right for you.

Can I recommend Heathfield? Extremely Arty and girls get high grades and go on to highly respected Art Schools. Nearish to Heathrow as it is at Ascot. It is small but has upped its academic profile considerably. Some on your list are competitive to get into but Heathfield is not. It is full boarding and all girls. This may not suit but Art, including fashion and design, is taken very seriously there. Tatler may have their fashion pix on its website. They put them up in March after the fashion show.

There was a long thread recently that talked a lot about boarding for sixth form. Can't link as am on phone at mo, but do search on here for lots of people's opinions.

As had been said, there's really not much to choose between them when you have no preference over IB/A Level or location.

I'd say most of them are fairly rural, with access to nice small towns/cities. Thinking about Shrewsbury, Oakham, Kings etc.

They're all going to have excellent pools, art facilities and push the brightest pupils to achieve their potential in my opinion.

In terms of being in an all girls house - the amount of time spent with just girls is small. Part of that will be doing prep anyway. Lots of schools have societies going on in the evening, or pools and gyms open to use. As someone said, allowing boys in and vice versa will come doing to the school and sometimes the housemaster/mistress. Some schools have 6th form common rooms as well, so there's mixing opportunities there.

Few points I would consider:

I do think it matters how lenient the school is about going home for weekends, and how you feel about that. It really changes the feel when you get a lot of people leaving. To be honest I never really understand why students want to - the fun for me was always being surrounded by my friends, and exeats come round often enough! Although I've always been fortunate to be at / work at schools that make sure weekends are fun, so there's much more incentive to want to stay in.

Secondly, is DD bothered about being one of few new students or would she prefer to join a larger sixth form intake which mixes up friendship groups a bit more?

It's so hard when you're overseas, as really the best way is to visit. Often you'll find certain schools just click, and others won't.

"Can they go into each other's common rooms etc."
It depends on the school. Some allow this. Marlborough has girls starting in the 6 th form who go into boys houses. Lots of posts on here about Marlborough I believe you can search it. There swimming pool/gym is very nice there although for 32k PA all will have pretty smart swimming pools gyms I would have thought.
If she's a tomboy Kings Canterbury might be worth looking at (lots of full boarders), a friend with three older boys and 1 tomboy daughter did the usual rounds and sent her there describing it as "a boys school with girls". Canterbury is a lovely small city with the best of all world, countryside, shops, safe, history and of course the sea just up the road. As a died in the wool country girls it's one of the few cities I would choose to live in.