Advice needed - Year 10 boarding schools with strong football programs

[TaiwanParents]

Hi,

We’re looking for advice on UK boarding schools for an international student entering Year 10.

This is for my son, and we are hoping for a school with a strong and structured football programme (rather than just recreational), while still keeping a reasonable balance with academics.

As parents won’t be relocating to the UK, joining a local club isn’t really an option, so we are mainly looking at football provision within boarding schools.

We’re not necessarily aiming for the most academically selective schools, but rather somewhere that offers a good overall balance.

We’ve looked at Royal Russell, Rossall and Bede’s — would be great to hear any thoughts on their football programmes and overall balance.

Also, any other schools worth considering?

Thanks!

Out of those three I would choose Bedes. It ticks all your boxes.

How good is he at football? Some of the academies now have links with independent schools. I think one of the clubs is linked with Whitgift for example

Bradfield College is an obvious choice. It has an outstanding football programme and is a solid all-round school too.

Just to add a bit more context , my son has been training with a football club since the age of 6 and continues to do so now at 13, within a structured team environment.

We’re hoping to find a school where he can continue to develop his football in a structured setting.

We understand Whitgift is academically strong, and we’re slightly concerned that our preparation time may not be sufficient for the entrance requirements.

Thank you again.

Aldenham. It only has a small number of full boarders but loads of weekly pt / boarders. Extremely strong football school, Myles Lewis Skelly (Arsenal) was a student and Arsenal send some of their academy players there

Hampton School
Millfield School
Bradfield College
Royal Russell School
Charterhouse
Ardingly College
Bede's School
Shrewsbury School
Repton School
Rossall School

These schools all have very strong football programmes and offer good academic provision too. Aldenham is another good choice, but maybe not considered in the same tier as the other schools in terms of all round provision. All these schools will be used to catering for boys in club pathways.

Wells has a link with Chelsea and is putting a lot of effort into their programme, although I am not sure how effective that is.

@TaiwanParents my son had an all round scholarship to Whitgift he was a swimmer and a pentathlete . He ended up being in the junior GB team and won a bronze medal . If you are incredibly good at a sport I think they will take you if you are mid range academics

Langley school?

Just a heads up that most boarding schools intake in year 9 so you might check who has space before getting too excited about a school on paper.

@Tobstar106That’s really impressive, congratulations to your son!
It’s amazing that he made it to the junior GB team and even won a medal.
I really hope my son can develop the same level of passion and excellence in his sport as well.

@hahabahbagThanks so much for the heads up. That’s really helpful. We’ll definitely check availability and also speak with our education consultant before getting too far ahead.

@ThatZingyMintCatThanks for this. Really helpful list. We’ll look into things like location and school ethos, but it’s quite hard to judge the footballing style from outside. If you have any insight or tips on how to get a feel for that, would really appreciate it.

@Oxonian2Thanks for the information. The location, football and academics all look great !

@Barnsleybonuz
Thanks for this. I hadn’t checked out Aldenham before, so will definitely take a look at their website.

Hi OP, a few things to add here.

1. it’s hard to tell from your post how good your son is. Playing for several years is nice but it could mean he is academy equivalent amazing or it could mean he is casual sunday league for fun. Do you have a sense of how good he is?
2. if he’s the first… don’t worry about academics he will get in to most schools on the basis of his football. If he’s the second then it will be much harder and it wont help a lot.
3. we have found that even at boarding schools, the bulk of the work is done outside school. If you’re not on the A team the provision isn’t that great generally… so don’t expect the school to do the heavy lifting. Even the top football schools do most of the work out of school. See eg the whitgift links to academies. Thing is - when you go to schools like that the calibre is SO high that it’s very difficult to be noticed or stand out. Comes back again to what you think his level really is…
4. Do you want the football because he may have a potential career, because he wants it to be a really important part of school life, or because he likes it and it’s how he makes friends? Again - the better the reputation of the school the higher the level will be.
5. does he do other sports or does he have the potential to excel at other sports? If so consider broader sports schools… Millfield, Renton and Whitgift are most well known. None are difficult to get into academically if you have the right sports potential. If you don’t, they can be but only because the number of people who get places based on sport will limit the number of places for others and make it more competitive.
6. just to say on the list above .. Hampton is an outstanding school, we play them regularly and it’s just won independent boys school of the year. But it won’t work for you as it’s not boarding and it is highly selective, your son won’t thrive there if he can’t keep up with the work. Others on the list… ardingly is very nice and in a pretty setting but it really isn’t a destination sports school. They have some good sports players and teams, but they’re part of the school… not the USP of the school. It has always been a nice rounded environment, not somewhere that’s excels hugely at any aspect. Charterhouse is fine and visually stunning, very high proportion of overseas students would suit you, much less local / day compared to some of the others. RR is good but it’s in an awful area and their teams are hit and miss, depends on the year group. Bedes is a good option but again a bit hit or miss
7. consistently… millfield, Repton, whitgift… but you do need to be in the upper groups to stand out there otherwise he will find himself being ignored in the C team. Bradfield also a good shout. Aldenham I think good but again depends on the year. We’ve played them quite a bit and they weren’t that out standing in our year, I know others are better.

hope that helps!

They don’t have any Rugby so football is the main winter sport

Aldenham has Tottenham youth players, Will Lankshear went there.

Maybe Haileybury?

But if he’s genuinely at the arsenal/tottenham academy level I’d get the academy place first and they’ll help sort out the school.

The post from LondonRidge is excellent and I would follow the advice given.

Need to establish what level your son is at to ascertain what he would be doing. A conversation with the Head of Football or Director of Sport at the school would help.

@LondonRidge

Thanks so much. This incredibly helpful and gives us a lot to think about. That’s exactly the part we’re finding hardest to gauge. We’re currently based in Taiwan, so it’s quite difficult to benchmark his level against the UK system. He trains around 4-5 times a week and regularly plays in competitive matches in Taiwan for at least 4 years, but it’s still not easy to tell how that translates.

He’s very passionate about football and a big fan of the Premier League, so naturally he would love the opportunity to develop and learn in that environment. Of course, we also see this as a broader journey, if things don’t work out at a high level in football, we hope he would still benefit from the kind of education and experiences that may not be as accessible in Asia.

I completely agree with your point. Being at a school with a strong football reputation but not quite at A team level probably isn’t the ideal environment for him. That’s something we’re trying to be very mindful of.

We’ve also been looking at Youtube videos to get a sense of different schools’ playing styles and levels, although I’m not sure how reliable that is, as you mentioned, it can vary quite a lot year by year for some schools.

I also wanted to ask that for schools where football programs are paid for separately (such as Rossall), does that typically mean the provision is more evenly distributed, rather than being heavily focused on the A team?

Thanks for the advice.

@ThatZingyMintCat
Thanks.
As no experience with this system, just trying to understand how these conversations are usually handled. What sort of info is normally shared, and how do people get a realistic sense of where their child might fit (A/B/C teams etc)?
Any tips much appreciated.

From what I have seen the kids that are in the proper premier league academies might attend the school but they don’t actually play in any school football matches at all in case of injuries, other kids taking them out etc.

Wow, I have a young relative who is a rugby player and they are captain of their school team as well as playing at national and international level. Not as much money in rugby as football though.

They absolutely do play, certainly up to U15

But they are expected to prioritise academy commitments, including missing school matches or limiting minutes ahead of / when they clash with academy commitments.

@TaiwanParents does your son play for a team and is the team in a league? Although you can’t directly compare with the UK, most countries have some kind of league for serious young footballers in which they can compete and develop. Not least as there will be pathways for their own national clubs and teams. A quick google says there is a large junior league in Taiwan and plenty of large competitions, does he play in any?

If you’re not playing in a league at a high level then that in itself is a red flag for entry to a “football” school. It would be very hard to convince any football programme that you’re talented without having played, or sought a place to play, in these teams… no matter how many times a week he plays (and especially if it’s a lot).

Also, I do wonder whether you might have different experiences or expectations around the school system here. To be honest, there really is no such thing in the UK as a football school. There are some that are stronger than others, and some that attract strong footballers because they are linked to local academies. But there isn’t really a precedent in the UK school system for going to a particular school to develop a specific skill. There are EXCEPTIONS to this… eg Millfield, Repton, Whitgift. But the highest level of extra curriculars (and music is the same) are achieved OUT of school.. not in school.

Do you think this might be the issue… you’re imagining a school that will take ownership of / responsibility for his football development, alongside his academics? If that’s the case I don’t think you will find one. By the time that boys reach 16… those in academies will actually LEAVE school and receive tutoring in their club in order to focus full time on their sport.

I hope I haven’t burst any bubbles but do tell us anything else you can share re his teams and experience in local / regional / national leagues and competitions that might help?

You need to share a “sports CV” including anything that can help them to get a sense of how good he is relative to others in your country, at a minimum:

Club or representative teams (eg regional, national)
League, division and results
Tournament participation and results
Any other trophies, medals, awards etc

Do a google search for any of the schools above and look at the details they need when you apply for a sports scholarship. Do you have much you can write around these?