Would you consider boarding abroad to reduce costs?

[justthinkingaloud1]

Many British boarding schools have international schools. Some cost significantly less, even when taking into account travel costs, etc. I’m interested in whether you would consider sending your child to board in a British international school abroad, and your reasoning.

How would you see them regularly? I mean I can't imagine not having my child at home in the first place but abroad seems worse. Especially given the current instability in the world.

They would come home at the end of each term, and at half terms. It’s common for kids from other countries to attend UK boarding schools in this way. You don’t see a huge amount of your kids when they board anyway, but I agree that this is a key consideration.

Absolutely not but then we’re only considering weekly boarding. If that wasn’t affordable we’d do day school or move into catchment for a good state school.

Thanks. I assume because you want to see and spend time with your kids?

I wouldn’t consider it because I’d want to see my kids more (I’m not anti boarding - I did it and I would consider it for my kids, but I’d definitely want to be around for sports days / play / exeats etc).

Id also consider what the quality of education / social experience / extracurriculars was like, including whether it would be a very monocultural place.

I’d that some schools might have sold their brands but not kept up standards.

I have worked in British international schools. They're really for people already living in the country they're situated in. For example, the ones in China are largely for wealthy Chinese students, the ones in Egypt are for wealthy Egyptians, etc. The boarding option is for people too far away in that country to do day school at the school. They're really not as international as you think (there are some "proper" international schools out there but these are largely for foreign children of expats working in that country and tend not to be boarding). If you want to save money, try a boarding school in Ireland instead, they're very cheap compared to the UK and the students will be more likely to speak English.

Also, it would be an absolute nightmare to get the right visa for Malaysia or China or wherever for an unaccompanied student with no parents nearby.

Thanks!