Question re boarding schools

[brunette123]

hi - I am not a mum but curious about what is the youngest age children go to boarding school - I am sure I drove past a boarding school this morning that said it took children 3 - 13 - 3???? I didn't even go to school at 3 - maybe I mis-read the sign but it made me think.
thanks in advance

Boarding schools might have day nurseries attached.

ISI figures show no 6 year olds boarding in UK (I think it covers all UK) though one school says it would take them. There are only a couple of hundred 7 and 8 year olds, though numbers begin to climb at 9+.

Most boarding schools also take day pupils, and the nursery and infants departments would be only day-pupils. Boarding usually starts from some time in juniors, for small numbers, with most children not boarding until 11-13.

I don't think any boarding schools accept boarders below Y3. Ours has 2 in Y3, several Y4 and then starts to climb from Y5. Lots of independent schools will accept day pupils from nursery 2-3 years, up to 6th form, with the option to board from Y3.

Thanks for the info - it has helped my curiosity

Not in UK, but my old school used to accept three year old boarders. However, the youngest children were usually 6/7 and toddlers were a rare exception usually made in difficult family circumstances.

Most likely the school you drove past was day and boarding.

The sign probably said 'IAPS day and boarding preparatory school 3-13 years old.

The school will start at 3 but the boarding house only from 7 or maybe even 9 depending on the school.

Our school takes boarders from 7 but we only get 1 or 2 full boarders of that age each year. Lots like to do the odd night though, it's like a fun sleepover for them. Very occasionally we take 5 or 6 years olds for a few days to help parents out who have to go away and have no childcare - but only if the child has an older sibling to board with.

My MIL boarded from the age of six, but her mother was dying of cancer at the time. Her father remarried when she was nine and she came home then. Stayed home until age eleven which was the normal age then for girls to go to boarding school.