Boarding for sixth form?

My DD moved to boarding school for 6th form and I echo the advice regarding the distance. In addition to half term. there is exeat mid way through each half term, and all students must leave the school.
DD is 2.5 hours away as she is at a specialist school, so we really do spend a lot of time on the motorway at weekends travelling to and from school. And that's without including extra trips to see performances.

Also 6th forms do not have wait lists as such. They select and refuse. In or not. You may get the odd bit of shifting but not much.

Huge apologies. I see you are North of Scotland. Stick to Scotland then. Canterbury would be a nightmare!

We looked at Uppingham for 6th form and the “them and us” was obvious from the new girls’ house scenario. Just not acceptable in our view so not for us. It was also a crappy building in comparison to the others so it felt like the new girls were second class citizens!

OP you are making a huge mistake in looking at schools as far apart as Gordonstoun (a well known outdoorsy and sporty school) and Kings Canterbury! Are you expecting to see your DD? What about visiting school?

Therefore, where do you live? Given the transition required, I would suggest weekly boarding which is what most schools offer in the 6th form anyway. 6th form tends to get more exeats. We chose schools 45 minutes and 1 hour away from home. We went to Drama and music productions. In fact if our DDs were doing anything where parents were invited, we went. If you choose a school miles away from home, you are throwing her in the deep end with little support.

If you say where you are, some may have experience of schools closer to where you live. My DD1 went to a very good girls school with top class drama. New girls could easily slot into this. Very good music too. In the 6th form, sport is about keeping fit if you are not team material. It’s sport for fun not medals! I could say what school this is, but if you are in Yorkshire there is no point!

Also Marlborough is tough to get into in the 6th form. It’s highly selective.

I work in a boarding school in a non-teaching role.

We have quite a few pupils who are new to the school for sixth form but by far the majority have been at the school from age 13. New pupils joining seem to settle in well but they tend to be quite confident individuals anyway IME.

The sixth form remains very structured - pupils are expected to attend chapel, take part in extra-curricular activities etc but obviously the emphasis is on study. From what I've seen they work really hard, often studying into the night when the pressure is on as exam time nears. Those who need it get extra support, extra tutorials out of lesson time as there's no doubt about it the pressure is on to do well (from parent's who are paying their fees as well as from the teachers). However on the whole the hard work pays off and they come out with great results.

One thing that struck me when I started working there (having had no experience of private schools before) was how little "down-time" they have. Could your DD cope with lessons through the day and the expectation to study during the evenings?

Another thing worth mentioning is the amount of travel involved for pupils - exeat weekends on top of the usual half-terms etc mean that pupils travel home every few weeks. Not so much a problem if you are nearish but a PITA and tiring if it involves a long trek

When would you be expecting her to start at the school?

I agree avoid academically selective given all the other changes she will have to cope with - but a lot of schools take in a big new intake at sixth form and most make big efforts to help them mix and settle in. For eg the school DD joined for sixth form boarding paired new and existing pupils as room mates in the first term to aid mixing. They usually settle and make friends quickly as they're together 24/7 so I think you'd know very quickly whether it was going to work or not.

I was also going to say Uppingham as they take on a lot of girls at sixth form - they have their own house so the breaking into cliques doesn’t happen. Everyone is new.

My friend boarded at sixth form after attending an all girls independent known for it’s nurturing and soft approach to girls. She hated the move as she was only one of two new girls and it was a much more robust environment to what she was used to. Most lonely two years of her life apparently.

That said, she is now looking at boarding schools for her children at 11 and 13 so it’s not that she is anti-boarding as a result. She is just paying a lot of attention to dynamics in the boarding houses in particular.

I agree with everything Happy Gardening has said about boarding - wise words as always!
Uppingham have a largish intake of new girls at sixth form ( 30-40.)
It is full boarding though , which you may not want .

Moving from hime schooling to a boarding school is quite a culture shock I used to work in a boarding school and I've seen a few children try and do it and its not been very successful. Thats not to say your DD cant do it but its not an easy transition. Secondly of she goes onto the 6th form oshe will nly have. a relatively short period of tine to settle down make new friends and get used to boarding on top of the jump many talk from GCSE's to A levels and the change in teaching style from home ed to classroom. As losing said it can be hard to break into existing friendships in the beginning.
Why did you move you DD form her secondary? Boarders have to be mentally pretty robust, sensitive types can struggle particularly in the beginning, There is little or no privacy, you have to be quick to read situations, and very adaptable, and enjoy communal living, your DD will live alongside people she may not like, find irritating, whose way of living may not be like hers: noisy, untidy etc. Ask yourself, honestly, if you think she could make this change and settle down at a crucial stage in her education? What would you do if its a disaster is it worth taking the risk?
If yes I personally would look at school with a largish intake into their 6th form not ones taking the odd pupils because they've chucked a few out. It is more competitive at 6th form; many international children have honed their English in less selective schools and move to more selective schools for A levels the more selective schools and even the fairly selective will definitely be looking for top results A's minimum (its good for their results/league tables etc) they often expect higher grades then they will expect from existing pupils and will likely to require your DD to sit an entrance test do an interview offers at most will be subject to GCSE results. I assume your not looking for next September many will have already offered places.
Marlborough might be worth looking at as I believe they take quite a few girls. into the 6th form (least they used too), or schools which goes coed in the 6th form so all the girls will be starting fresh might be worth looking at, Charterhouse, although it is about to go coed from yr 9 soon.
All good boarding schools will offer sport drama music etc and often sport is often less compulsory for 6th formers.
Finally do you want full or weekly boarding and where do you live? The schools you've mentioned are scattered around the UK? I had a 1 1/2 hour one way max driving rule most UK parents with children at boarding schools would agree. Unless you own a helicopter or list driving as your main hobby and have loads of spare time you will find it difficult to attend the school for activities etc if you exceed this. My DS wasn't musical or into drama so nothing to attend ion that front I avoided social things like the plague and DS's school didn't really encourage parents to watch matches etc but many boarding schools offer a wide range of social activities and parents often attend matches plays and concerts if their children are in them and there are quite a few other things where attendance is virtually compulsory, also exeats etc. So do thunk carefully about how far you can realistically travel.

I went to boarding school for just sixth form and while it was quite cliquey and hard to initially break into friendship groups, especially with existing boarders who had all boarded and known each other since year 7, I made some amazing friends who I am still in touch with 20 odd years later. I have also taught in a boarding school and usually girls who join in sixth form slot in really well if they are sociable etc. Some people find it really restrictive though because you can't really come and go as you would at home and the rules are usually pretty tight as to going to assemblies, evening functions, wearing uniform etc. Depends on the school.