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!

Sounds good. Did your son have to pay higher fees as an ‘international’ student? Or did the uni let that go?

I’m speaking as an ex full boarder myself and now as a mum to two dc who full board. We are uk based but my dc have many friends who are currently based in the uae.
the most important consideration to make is whether you want a full boarding school or not.
full boarding means every single person in the boarding house must stay in every single weekend except for fixed exeats and half term. Typically 4 exeats per academic year and three half terms plus school main holidays of course.
or do you want a school where your dd can visit friends her sister on weekends of her choosing in which case you need a school that “offers” full boarding.
these are two very very different types of boarding school.
the former means she will have all her friends every weekend and the pastoral weekend care is comprehensive. The latter means the house WILL empty out at weekends and just the overseas (mostly Asian) will stay in. Pretty much every weekend. Schools (and parents!) lie about the numbers that stay in more than anything else in my experience.

it is the biggest lie schools peddle where they offer full boarding but allow pupils home on weekends. They go home. And they take the popular kids with them. Everyone else will stay behind as a full boarder. It’s effing miserable!! But if your dd wants to visit her sister or go elsewhere each weekend this is the right option for her. If she is likely to want to visit friends or family every 3 or 4 weeks at most then choose a full boarding school where it is compulsory to stay in on every non exeat weekend.
almost every school mentioned on this thread is not a full boarding school. They offer full boarding but they are not full boarding schools. Very different entities! There are infact very few full boarding schools left in the uk.

all full boarding schools will have around 20% internationals so there are coach loads heading to the airports at half term. Don’t just choose a school close to airports if you are wanting a proper full boarding experience. A lot close to London are not full boarding schools anyway. They offer full boarding that is all.

proper full boarding schools in the midlands that may suit are Oundle (academic/stem with no compulsory team sports ) and also Uppingham and rugby. Their transport links are not quite as good for London airports as Oundle but not a lot in it.
I am unsure of which southern schools are genuine full boarding schools. Try CLC and Marlborough.
you need to get on and apply pronto. Entrance exams will be around Sept 24 for Sept 25 entry.

my best tip for an overseas based child is to choose a full boarding school and avoid every school which will not explicitly say on their website they are a 100% full boarding school. Your dd can see her sister on exeat weekends (4 per year) and fly to see you each half term and holidays. That is the usual pattern for any overseas children.

Poor kid. Send your husband on his own and you can stay in the UK with your daughter and visit in the holidays.

I agree with @leftandaright who has explained far more clearly what I was trying to say. This was my reasoning for suggesting Christ's Hospital as it is very much a full boarding school - non exeat weekends the 6th formers can get a pass to go into the local town (Horsham) and family and friends can take them out for lunch on Sunday but otherwise they are all expected to be onsite (although with 800 acres there is plenty of scope to be alone if you want to).

Horsham's a good location for us actually so I'll check it out. Not sure about the uniform though lol.

Thank you everyone for the helpful responses.

I looked at CH for my DS - they were keen to offer him a music scholarship. Know many kids who’ve been there and done well. V strong traditions and identity, social mix broader than you might expect given they are effectively needs blind. It wasn’t right for DS but I’m a fan.

TBH the uniform is a bit of a leveller given there will be children from families on the bones of their arse as well as the super rich international contingent. I quite liked the mix and the fact that it meant money was a pretty taboo subject.

What @leftandaright said is totally true and has summed up the pros and cons perfectly- just to clarify Marlborough still follows a full boarding model too. There are a few other schools I’m aware of that are a bit more flexible and still have c.50% in at weekends but many do totally empty out after Saturday matches until Sunday evening. It can also vary by House and by year so hard to generalise or rely on personal testimonies!

something I heard which sums it up-

”Parents want everyone else’s child to be there at weekends in case their child might sometimes want to stay”

Woldingham is a beautiful school with great facilities too. Very Close to m25 j6

My daughter is a boarder at St Swithun’s in Winchester.. she will stay on for sixth form! Can’t praise the school enough; kind and caring, lots going on they can wander down to Winchester town, good transport links. Very supportive and a good mix of boarders and day girls .. they all seem to get along together. My daughter has thrived there! She has done a mix of weekly boarding and full - there are quite a lot of international boarders too and they seem excellent at arranging travel etc.. good luck 😀

I don't have any experience of boarding but my goodness, how lucky is your daughter! I'd have killed for that experience and no one will convince me that it isn't all Mallory Towers 😄

I recommend Hurst in West Sussex - really easy for Gatwick. Both of mine went there just for sixth form (transferred from state) and loved it. My DS and DD both did STEM subjects and we felt the teaching and support for uni etc was great. I think they’re very strong pastorally. Extremely supportive and inclusive - everyone belongs. Our two were day pupils as we lived nearby at the time but lots board. Quite a few students joined at sixth form so there’s always a good cohort that haven’t been there from the start. In Lower sixth they join a house with pupils from lower down the school but in upper sixth they all move to the upper sixth boarding house which is like a university hall of residence. Day pupils have their own study room too with bed etc and most pupils do some flexi-boarding, even pupils that were previously day students. It’s a fantastic atmosphere and really prepares them for uni. As another PP has said though, wherever you look, find out what proportion of students board over the weekend. At Hurst most went home on Fridays and it was largely international students around full-time. That might get quite lonely so really worth checking.

Neither of my two are especially sporty or musical but there was something here for everyone - and they both ended up trying stuff they’d not done before just because everyone else is joining in with things so it’s more fun to have a go!

almost every school mentioned on this thread is not a full boarding school. They offer full boarding but they are not full boarding schools. Very different entities! There are infact very few full boarding schools left in the uk.

This is very true and something to watch out for. If your DD is going to be staying at school on weekends then I'd look for a school which doesn't offer weekly boarding and where all of the boarding pupils stay all of the time unless there is an exeat weekend. I'd also want a school where the majority are boarders.

CLC changed their offering a couple of years ago to allow boarders to leave almost every weekend but I believe the vast majority are still there at the weekend. Cheltenham a college (the old boys school) is now co-ed and is majority full boarders and has a female head who I've heard good things about.
Otherwise many of the bigger name public schools are I believe still full boarding (Marlborough, Oundle, Uppingham). Lancing on the South Coast is still full boarding (though day pupils can flexi board) and relatively handy for Gatwick- not sure if boarders are the majority though.

Also avoid any school which markets itself heavily to pupils coming from overseas for a year (this is very popular in Germany and Spain) as the coming and goings can make it harder in a boarding house as you make friends and then they leave. There are quite a few schools that do this.

My daughter is in upper college at CLC. It certainly doesn’t empty at weekends. Not sure about SFC but my impression is it doesn’t

Wycombe Abbey. Prime ministers daughters are there too. Close to Heathrow. Excellent academic record. Friend went and she loved it.

Is Sherborne Girls too far west? It's 90% full boarding (you would have to check how often they can go home at weekends), good links with the boys school, not hot housey if you don't want that.

No school is 90% full boarding. This is not reality. Such percentages are myths peddled by schools’ propaganda.
If they CAN go home (or to friend’s ), they will. It just takes 1 and they are rats off a sinking ship. Leaving the overseas and friendless behind for a lacklustre weekend.

if you need full boarding, choose full boarding. No ifs or buts or flexi.

I have family at Dubai college . It's excellent. Half the price of boarding . I think Brighton College has taken off in a big way over there as well.

Nr Gatwick. I Lancing College and Brighton College both academic.

You seem to be contradicting yourself there. There are still several full boarding schools that also allow a small number of day pupils who live nearby (but not weekly boarders). But that is why I stressed the need to check how often pupils are allowed home at weekends as every school is different and it can be difficult to find their exact policy. Some will only allow exeat weekends, others exeats + a fixed number of additional weekends and many, as you stated, are a free for all.

I've gone to the hassle to find out Sherborne Girls' policy and this is from their website:

"We are committed to maintaining our leading position among the handful of true single-sex, full-boarding schools in the UK. Full boarding at Sherborne Girls means the girls live, dine and work as valued members of a diverse House community. All boarders stay in each weekend, except for exeats and school holidays, benefiting from the wide range of activities, socials and opportunities. Our long tradition of and commitment to full boarding (around 90% of pupils board), is supported by our staff. With extensive expertise in pastoral and spiritual care, they enable every girl to be happy, confident and comfortable within the boarding environment."

Thank you, time to start emailing and phoning around I think !

I think some people who don't have kids in boarding school are just confused about the terminology - full boarding vs boarding ratio.

Some of the comments above are spot on. Many girl schools are becoming more flexible about going home on the weekends post COVID.

So for example, while Wycombe has 90% boarders, there are literally only 2 weekends a term that you HAVE to stay (the first and the last). The rest are open weekends plus short/long leaves. Many people do go home to London, or places like Bedford, even the Cotswolds. So depending how many international boarders there are, you might find half of the boarders gone. And if you are in LVI or UVI and without a family in the UK, you might go and stay at your school friends' homes, taking a break from school.

Similarly Benenden is also operating the same system as far I am aware from about two years back.

Also the availability of transport links is another factor determining whether kids can leave school easily.

And I am actually curious which school still operates a system where you can only go home during half term and the 2 exeats. (thank you @SpiderRemedy )

@Cleverchops do a lot of girls stay over the weekend at St Swithun's?

Frensham Heights. Great pastoral care.