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Original poster

How are places at state boarding schools allocated?

40 replies

BikeRunSki · 01/09/2018 15:17

DM lives close to a very good state boarding school (we live 200 miles away).DS will be starting secondary school in 2 yrs time, and asked if we’d considered sending him there? Its not something we’d ever thought about (we are rural and there is only one high school we can feasibly access), but DM has got me thinking.

Is state boarding reserved for looked after children and children of military/crown servants working overseas, or can anyone apply?

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Original poster
BikeRunSki · 04/09/2018 13:48

*the reason I have a step dad is not because boarding school made my dad was emotionally damaged by boarding school, but because he died. Of non emotional causes. His mental health was fine.

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Original poster
BikeRunSki · 04/09/2018 13:46

Thank you for all your input ladies.
My dad, step dad* and uncles were all products of a 1940s/50s boarding school education, so I am actually well aware of what Babymamama is alluding to.

I’m going to hide this thread now, as it has become a little detailed. I have had a lot of food for thought, and all you with recent experience of state boarding have been extremely helpful sharing your experiences and advice. I will consider DS’s secondary edication options in the context of my family and what would suit my son. The school we could go to locally is not a bad school (in fact is Outstanding), i’m just not convinced that it’s a great school for DS. I went to a school that was convenient, but a terrible fit, I was miserable for 7 years and left with some very poor A levels (thank God for the old polytechnics!). Obviously, Sexey’s may not be a great fit either, but it could give us an option.

Thank you too to flourypotato for pointing out the difference between “need” and “suitability” to board.

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flourypotato · 04/09/2018 09:13

OP you need to distinguish between "need to board" and "suitability for boarding". There is a strict oversubscription policy that covers "need to board" (LAC, military and so on). However if you look at the admissions policy you will see that the first thing they talk about is "suitability for boarding". This is a woolly assessment (how can it be anything but) of the child's character and trying to figure out if they and the school are a good fit.
You and DS need to concentrate on 'suitability' and not 'need'.

MrsChollySawcutt · 04/09/2018 08:45

Wouldn't it be lovely if we could have just one thread about boarding without it being derailed by headless chickens shrieking about emotional damage and harking back to a distant past.

Be warned OP, when you have DC at boarding school you have to deal with numpties like this a lot.

flourypotato · 04/09/2018 08:35

I was raised by a boarding school product ie my father and I believe the experience honestly stunted his emotional development.

He was probably at boarding school half a century ago so is that input at all relevant? It would be equivalent to my brother warning against grammar schools because they throw blackboard-rubbers at you. Or me warning against primary schools because they make you drink milk that is going off because it has been left out in the sun all morning.
OP wants to know what may happen in the future, for her DS, not what happened in the past, to your DF.

MoggyP · 04/09/2018 07:39

Yes Babymamama, that's your view not a universal one.

OP was perfectly clear she was just exploring options. Now can you help,her with her question about boarding, or are you just going to criticise her for even thinking about it?

What would you do, if you had Hobson's Choice for schools but were unable to move?

And if course you cannot use grandparents for just a tee time address to apply for a more 'desirable' school. Your DC would have to live their as main residence year round. So would be far more cut off from parents than one who goes home for holidays exeats etc.

Of course, not every DC wants to board, and it would be utterly wrong to put a child not suited for boarding into a residential school unless there was really no other option. By secondary age, DC can usually state their opinions on this quite strongly.

Babymamamama · 04/09/2018 01:28

I'm not a troll- quite the opposite. I just strongly feel the best place for most children is with their parents. I'm not trying to be offensive with that. I was raised by a boarding school product ie my father and I believe the experience honestly stunted his emotional development. Anyway clearly I am not the input you wanted on this thread so I will leave it.

Original poster
BikeRunSki · 03/09/2018 20:13

Babymama
Where did I say that I didn’t want DS living with me? I have repeatedly said that we live rurally and can only access one high school, so the concept of state boarding could given us more options.

DM wouldn’t want DS living with her, because by the time he is high school age she will bf in her 80s, I think that’s fair enough. She is widowed, but already has one adult dependant. She really would but appreciate a teenager too.

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MrsChollySawcutt · 03/09/2018 19:33

Babymama troll off. State boarding schools are excellent and most are highly academic. Educate yourself before making such ignorant comments.

Babymamamama · 03/09/2018 19:25

I'm baffled by this thread. Why do neither you or your mother want DC living with them? Why does he need to be sent away? I think you'd find a high number of children in that kind of establishment with emotional difficulties at the very least. Why subject him to that for no reason.

youarenotkiddingme · 03/09/2018 19:20

There's a state boarding school near me.
I know many parents use it as an alternative option. Eg they work long hours, child would have long journey anyway so save 2-3 hours a day travelling etc.

I'd say is a fantastic option for families of lesser means than public boarding school but who need the flexibility of boarding due to lifestyles.

flourypotato · 03/09/2018 18:51

Co-ed, good proportion of boarding pupils, will accept boarders in any year from Y7 upwards. Sounds good!

Burford has a tiny proportion of boarders (90 out of 1137).

Original poster
BikeRunSki · 03/09/2018 18:37

The school close to DM is Sexey’s.
Since I started thinking about this I have discovered Burford school, about as close to my PIL, is also a SBS!

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flourypotato · 03/09/2018 18:31

Our SBS has intake at Y7, Y9 and Y12.
Do you want to name the target school?

Original poster
BikeRunSki · 03/09/2018 18:22

Thank you for all your input. I really don’t know if this is something we will pursue. DS is not against the idea. He has a very close relationship with DM, and is always desperately sad that she never sees his concerts, sports matches etc. Until a few days ago. I hadn’t even realised that this was an option. As we are rural, with only one state high school available to us, or was/is interesting to have another option to consider. My initial question was not whether to send DS to boarding school, but to explore whether this is a was a realistic option for people with no boarding need. DS’s secondary application will need to be done this time next year for Y7 entry*. It is something we will look at as a family, to see what works best for us.

  • to complicate matters further, where we are, children change schools at Y6 and Y9, so going to a secondary school would mean changing at Y6 and then Y7.
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flourypotato · 03/09/2018 16:58

Our local state boarding school is very over-subscribed for day pupils, but is quite easy to get into as a boarder

Same here, especially since austerity hit.
Several boarders live nearer to the school than day pupils!

LoniceraJaponica · 03/09/2018 14:00

What does your son want?

Am I right in thinking that your LA still has a three tier school system? What age will your DS be if he goes to boarding school? Would he be starting at the beginning of year 7 like the other children?

ksb76 · 02/09/2018 23:20

By the way, not all expats pay no tax in the UK. We have continued to pay UK tax on our UK sourced income while living abroad, yet get absolutely no benefit from it at all - while I don't need to use the UK state boarding schools, it is fantastic that it exists for families in a variety of scenarios.

Duvetday123 · 02/09/2018 20:29

Our local state boarding school is very over-subscribed for day pupils, but is quite easy to get into as a boarder. There are not many year 7 boarders, but the numbers increase as they go up the school. So it might be worth bearing in mind the size of cohort your son would be with in the lower years if he were to board.

hertsandessex · 02/09/2018 17:07

In theory it is based on boarding need but in our experience there don't seem to be enough applications from people with a really strong genuine need (such as parents living overseas) and lots of boarders end up being children who just like the school. Need to be a bit creative explaining the "need."

AgonyBeetle · 02/09/2018 09:13

I have a child in a state boarding school that we are out of area for (100+ miles away).

Happy to discuss by pm if you want.

In general I would say that boarding places are often not that oversubscribed in which case ‘boarding need’ will be defined quite loosely. So don’t be put off applying if you think it would suit your family.

Growingboys · 01/09/2018 20:43

Hollow what an odd way to look at it.

If my DM had a state boarding near her she'd be pressuring us like mad to send DC there.

Nothing like a strong relationship between one's DC and DM. Good luck OP.

MrsChollySawcutt · 01/09/2018 19:23

Sorry Bikerunski the question about payment for boarding wasn't a dig at you. I was checking the poster who was frothing about ex pats had worked out that it's not a free boarding education.

BellsaRinging · 01/09/2018 19:02

Hi, my ds is actually just going into year 9 at a state boarding school. He had an interview to check if he was 'suitable to board'-this was about half an hour with a teacher, and he tells me it was a chat about what he enjoyed at school and why he wanted to board, and whether he had stayed away from home before. He had been away with scouts and to a holiday pgl type camp so chatted about that.
At his school they do several open days and have a weekend that prospective pupils can go to to see if they like boarding-worth a look.
Ds loves his school. We live in a small village and he was travelling c an hour to school. The big advantage is that he can do great activities at school in the travel time he would be going to and from school if he was at home.
Can't speak for all schools but ds got in with no problems, and we had no really pressing reason for him to go.
Happy to chat via pm if it would help.

Original poster
BikeRunSki · 01/09/2018 18:59

Leeds2 absolutely !

MrsCholly yes I do, we could manage that.

As I said, this was a very off the cuff remark only made earlier today, which got me wondering if it was even a possibility for families with no boarding need. If we didn’t have comitments in Yorkshire, I suspect that we’d have moved down there by now anyway, but for now I strongly suspect that ds’s loyalties lie with his cricket club and school friends!

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