Sixth Form Choice - Benenden or St. Swithun's

St Swithuns is obviously based in a city with excellent fast links into London
Um, no
Its a good half hour walk along roads with no footpath into town and there are no reliable buses.
WinCol is in the city, Swithuns is out on the edge of it (fabulous views from their hall, but not in the city)

St Swithuns is currently around 1/3 full boarders in the sixth form, in total around 60% board in the sixth form (far more than further down the school). The number of sixth form boarders is increasing and they just expanded their sixth form boarding house.

Personally I would go much more on the impressions I got from the 2 hour visits than comments on the internet. Both schools are good schools in which a high achieving girl will do well. Both have a significant fraction of children from Hong Kong (I think 10% or more in the sixth form?). Both are experienced at getting girls into medicine. But, even leaving aside the full v weekly boarding issue, the schools have a different feel and I would think you would have a gut instinct as to which would suit your child better.

Sorry for the typos.

That's a good point summer (waves boys home in four days ), Benenden is quite rural although closish to train stations etc, but not walkable, St Swithuns is obviously based in a city with excellent fast links into London. I suspect Benenden school puts on buses to the nearest station.
As I'm sure you're aware you DD will need a guardian I personally would try and find one locally.
"Full boarding" is a term for some reason open to some variation especially when it suits schools, but basically in most parents minds and in the few schools that truly offer full boarding it means living and sleeping at school 7 days a week. Those schools which offer day weekly and full boarding are happy to lie prone to being economical with the truth when someone is enquiring about the actual number of full boarders, Two friends have just removed their DC's from a big name boarding school that claimed to have 40-50% full boarders the reality was 10% and their DC's found weekends long and lonely. A mum I know has a DC at another well known boarding school both her and her DC love it, there only gripe is that the school didn't make it clear that it's basically a weekly boarding school they have to drive there every weekend to pick him up.
As your daughter is "quiet" I personally think she would benefit from full boarding school, getting in to study medicine I notoriously difficult, it's not just bout studying hard they look at personality communication skills, life experiences etc and the extra curricular activities and the camaraderie offered at full boarding school could boost her confidence.
So with this in mind my money if I was you my money would be on Benenden.

thankful you may have already considered this but if your DD is aiming for medicine she will need to fit in some suitable voluntary work and medical experience during term time. It would be worth asking both schools how they arrange / facilitate this as it may contribute to your decision.

talkin overseas students will be expected to have appointed a UK guardian for exeats.
I agree with HG Benenden is a full boarding school with Saturday school and St Swithuns is not predominantly full boarding. I expect the numbers of full boarders though might increase for the sixth form. Again it is important to check the actual numbers in at weekends. As has been discussed before schools have a variety of definitions for the term full boarding. Sixth formers IME do not need to have wall to wall activities laid on for them, but there needs to be a core of full boarders. They need time to relax and do homework etc.
OP do ask how many new sixth formers there will be as it can be very difficult to break into friendships groups that have been together since age 11.

thankful
it might be worth asking the killer expat question
"what provision do you have for overseas pupils who cannot go home during a full exceat weekend?"

Some schools are great at organising local families to stay with because they know that going home at short notice may not be an option

others are not

TBH any selective girls boarding school that could not get a bright kid into med school is taking the &&&

A family member went to Benenden and had an utterly fantastic time, and yes, its full boarding.

St Swithuns is near here : its a mixture of day, weekly boarding and full boarding
so is unlikely to feel as inclusive at weekends as a full boarding school

Results wise : if your kid is bright and supported they will do well in any school.

There are girls who were at St Swithuns who left there to go to the same college as my DD - with the same GCSEs as all the other bright, motivated girls.

If your DD is bright and hard working then I suspect t she'll get the same exam grades at both, St Swithuns results might "score slightly better" or have 'higher academic achievement" but this has more to do with their admission criteria, how selective they are, rather than the fact that it's a better school.
You are sending your DD half way round the world to school if it was my DD I would want her to be in a full boarding school with all the infra structure and advantages that this brings. In a weekly/day school she could be lonely at the weekend, I would be especially concerned about this if she is a "quieter type".

In my opinion,St Swithuns has higher academic achievements. By the way, did your DD receive offers from both of the schools?

St Swithans is primarily a weekly boarding/day school, Benenden if full boarding school as your from outside of the UK you and will be requiring full boarding to me it's a no brainier; Benenden