Looking for a full boarding school for sixth form

[notsurewhattowrite]

Hi
I know virtually nothing about boarding schools so asking for advice. Husband had been offered a job in the Middle East and so we are potentially looking for a boarding school for my dd who will start sixth form in 2025. Would be good to be in reach of Heathrow or Gatwick.
She's pretty academic, wants to study STEM, but not particularly sporty or into drama. Need full boarding and good pastoral care. Co-Ed or all-girls both considered. I've had a look around and seems we are already quite late in looking so I'm panicking a bit!
Help!

My dd boarded for sixth form, own choice, and loved it. Unfortunately her school has since closed but I would recommend that you choose somewhere she can go to stay with someone easily for exeact which are long weekends every 3 weeks. Any decent school will have buses to the train station at least, DDs school dropped them at the national express station too, with direct link to Heathrow and Gatwick. Do check that she wants to board though as not all youngsters are ready, my dd loved the independence and it was a half way house between home and university. State boarding might suit better if she's state educated as it's not as full on, DDs was state.

The south-west would be ok if anyone has any suggestions. I'll look into those suggested above thanks. She's pretty clever (should get 8's and 9's) so I'm not too worried about the academic side of things, just that she doesn't really do much extra curricular stuff at the moment.

Woldingham School

As an aside, I moved to ME for Y12/13, went to an International school and LOVED it, really loved it. Did IB instead of A levels.

we have extensive family experience of Charterhouse for sixth form, and can thoroughly recommend it.

international schools all very well, but with the university application process happening alongside A Levels, I reckon staying in UK a better bet

No where near either of your two preferred airports but very strong academically [and music, sport and drama]
As a school it is mostly day pupils so unlikely to be oversubscribed for boarders for 6th form, it's a co-ed school with two boarding houses. Sixth form girls housed in semi independent accommodation to get them ready for uni.
https://www.ipswich.school/sixth-form/
Good train links to London so just over 1hr to London Liverpool St.

Usually if parents are overseas, a school will want a local guardian to be within a few hours of the school so that might help narrow down a circle.
Subject choices are another though if STEM that's likely to be available everywhere.
Then proximity to extended family if you won't be home regularly ?
After that, where will you spend Christmas etc?? If you are renting out your home and are more likely to check into a hotel for a week or meet up overseas it's worth considering.
Private school holidays are long [if not currently in private school] so the other challenge may be where she will spend her holidays if not with you. In her final year she will want to study in the holidays and so I would look for a school that does have a number of international boarders and with an eye to not leaving them to cool their heels in a miserable empty building; where are the schools that will offer an outside social life with friends, their families and easily walkable venues like cinema and shopping so she can have a life as well as study. Personally I'd make that a consideration over necessarily a "big name" school which may be in the middle of nowhere and once everyone goes for the holidays, that's it for 3-4 weeks of Christmas and Easter apart from a week with your folks in London or whatever? I hope that doesn't sound judgemental, I think there's a happy balance when you are far away.

Good point about emergencies, someone needs to be fairly close for your and the schools peace of mind. At our school we saw grandparents on parents evening. Sports events, concerts, Etc

Grandparents and Other family and friends are all in the south east so around that area would be better. I would look to coming home in the holidays or flying her out. We won't rent out our home here. I'm not after a big name school necessarily just somewhere she'd be happy and thrive. She's open to boarding and thinks she would prefer that to coming and living with us in the ME but that may change. I personally would prefer somewhere not totally in the middle of nowhere and that would provide her with a bit of independence to see friends and family at the weekend if she wanted to (she'll have a sibling here at university).

Hurtwood House, Benenden?

King's Canterbury would suit - majority full boarding and lots of expats. Not near the airports but I don't think that really matters - better to choose the right school for her

Note that if your daughter lives with you in Abu Dhabi at an international school, she may not be counted as a U.K. applicant to uni, she may have become an ‘overseas’ applicant.

Which means your fees could be higher. You need to have been back in the U.K. for 3yrs minimum to be counted as UK resident for uni applications, I think.

Something worth investigating. Particular unis may have particular criteria.

That's a good point, friends lived in Spain then France before Brexit. Both children went to St Andrews in Scotland with no problem. That wouldn't happen today.

I Think EU countries and Switzerland aren’t included as ‘international’ for U.K. citizens living there and applying for uni. But could be wrong.. I’d definitely check if we were thinking of moving though.

Christs Hospital would be a good fit I think as it is only a couple of stops on the train to Gatwick (the school has its own station with a regular service) and all boarders are expected to be there on non Exeat weekends (you need a good reason to spring them). It also keeps a boarding house open at each Exeat so that international pupils can stay on site and don't have to go to a guardian for the weekend. It is a big and well endowed school so the facilities are great and it has a very wide extra curricula offering. My DD went there for sixth form and loved it. It also has a separate boarding house (2 actually) for the upper 6th split into flats so they get a bit more of a uni type experience in that year.

I would advise that you drill down quite carefully into just how many 6th form boarders will be at school at weekends - a lot of the schools near London (ie near airports) will say that they are full boarding but have a lot of children who go home at the weekend. If you don't your DD could end up being one of a handful of boarders at the weekend perhaps with a cohort of Chinese students who speak Mandarin amongst themselves - not being racist as I can imagine that it must be a relief to them to not have to speak English sometimes.

I would swerve Woldingham - academically you don't get much bang for your buck and I know you said the company would pay...but if your child is academic then she can do better than Woldingham. I'd also swerve MPW for similar reasons.

Sevenoaks is a good choice if your child is academically inclined. I know several people with children who are there and who enjoy it.

Other options are Ardingly, which is good although not great to get to Heathrow and Caterham which is okay...but nothing to write home about given how much their fees are.

If it's just academics you are after, this league table might help - you can look up girls boarding and narrow it down https://www.topschoolguide.com/uk/league-tables/boarding-schools/top-boarding-schools-for-girls/?

you don't your DD could end up being one of a handful of boarders at the weekend perhaps with a cohort of Chinese students who speak Mandarin amongst themselves - not being racist…

Why is it racist to say Chinese students speak Chinese?

Thank you for the replies, a lot to consider! Feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Cranleigh Abu Dhabi (https://www.cranleigh.ae/) and BSAK (https://www.britishschool.sch.ae/) are both good.

Another recommendation is Brentwood School, only 25 mins from London, and has international students from many different countries. They’re currently building a huge new state of the art sixth form boarding house, which looks like it will be ready for the 2025 school year.

Full boarding for A bright girl with a bent towards STEM within reach of Heathrow and the employer paying the fees? How has no one mentioned CLC?

Yes CLC is a good shout, and also Headington? Very good transport options there and I think the right mix of academic and pastoral. Lots of international boarders at the weekends (although as a pp implied, that can cause its own issue)

Swerve Windermere, stunning location but it's been turbulent for a few years and is too far from your family. You would need to appoint a guardian for exeats & holidays if you are overseas, so a school near(ish) to family in the SE makes more sense

Lots of great options on this thread but I echo another poster, just because they say full boarding doesn't mean they don't empty out at weekends especially the London crowd. DD's school was v strict about springing DC from school at weekends unless official exeat, DS saunters home from school every weekend and nobody bats an eye. Some schools have lessons, tutor sessions and things like fixtures and chapel so weekends are quite full on, others may have few pupils around so only do things like optional cinema trips or paint balling. So include that side of things when choosing what you and DD want, do your research, look beyond the glossy marketing and ask direct questions.

Getting a flat for your 6th former to live in while you are half way round the world is madness, don't do that. I'm aware of a family who has done this this year and the kid has gone off the rails very fast, parents are in the far east and oblivious AFAIK and the school is powerless because he's a day pupil so no longer in their care outside of the school day. Boarders are protected and safeguarded as well as just being fed and having somewhere to sleep, there's also a social camaraderie to boarding. Why wouldn't parents want that for their teenager rather than sticking them in a flat alone and just hoping for the best?

Yes, I think it would be very scary for a 16/17 year old to be in her own place with mum and dad thousands of miles away. I wouldn’t contemplate this.

Calling and visiting your favourites would be a good start - you might find some might already have waiting lists and you can rule those out. Nothing quite like visiting to see how happy the school feels, food, dorms and the reality of extra curricular offerings. I'm sure your dd will get a feel for one she likes.

I live in the UAE, I have one son who has just finished sixth form here, (and is now at University in the UK) and another son who is currently in sixth form here. I suggest you bring your daughter with you and put her in a sixth form in an Abu Dhabi school, sixth formers here have a great life. BSAK and Cranleigh have already been mentioned, Brighton College is also worth a look. A pp gave you a link to the KHDA, this is a government department that is in charge of all the schools here, they inspect and rank the schools, there is a lot of information on thier web page. Also maybe have a look at this website https://schoolscompared.com/ Happy to answer any questions you may have.