Do you know any full boarding schools that cost less than £9000 a term?

[Immenselygrateful]

My funds are low, but I do really want my sons to benefit from the UK education system! I would give anything to give my kids the best education that I can break my back to afford ( my single mum did the same for me and my 9 siblings). That is the dream that keeps me up at night, hustling at two (and sometimes three) jobs etc. To put it simply, I will die a happy woman if my kids get that type of education.

I have looked at several schools, including (ironically)Eton, Willcoll, oakham, Dauntsey's, Canford, abingdon, Merchiston castle, Millfield and Whitgift, hoping that he can get a bursary. I have arranged for us to come ( we are from Uganda) and visit most of those this Sept. However, I think I need to be realistic and aim lower, for a school I can afford, if he does not get a bursary from any of those.

So, which schools are cheaper than those? The cheapest of the above must be Merchiston castle, which costs £9115 per term in fees alone.
Are there any good senior schools that cost less than that, and do offer full boarding ( and have some sort of good pastoral care)?
My DH is quite bright, not sporty or musical yet ( hasn't had any exposure to sport/ music...all we do in Uganda is teach teach and teach some more) but he is still doing the local curriculum ( so he may not be scholarship material at this point). I want him to join at 13 in 2017.

I am immensely grateful for your advice on this.

Friends' School (another Quaker school) in Saffron Walden appears to be under 9K for seniors as well.

Cross post there, Bryony!

Honestly OP sending your ds to a second-rate boarding school just because it's a bit cheaper will do him no favours in the long run - it sounds like things are fairly tight financially and you've still got to factor in all the extras like flights home, school trips, somewhere for him to stay during exeats or half terms

Equally it doesn't sound (sorry!) as if he'd be the kind of candidate the big names would be falling over themselves to get

Have a good look at what's on offer much closer to home

Wow! Thank you ladies (I assume)! The advice you give is really invaluable.

I have considered many of these options..
I ruled out South Africa because the racism is just so unbearable ( I work for a South African company...).
I have also considered Kenya for the lower years and then UK for the sixth form. To be sincere, there are many days when I have made up my mind to take this route but then after some time I always feel like we could give a shot to UK from year 9...

The thing is, ultimately I want him to stand a chance to go to Oxbridge / Harvard. To be able to do so means he needs to be in a really good school in the sixth form and I don't know if he would easily get into such a sch if he does his lower senior years from anywhere other than UK ( besides, really good schs, like wincoll, take in just a handful at 16s, and at that age, he would have to compete with many extremely bright, well prepared kids from overseas).

I have decided not to commit to a prep school without being sure that I can sustain his education in UK ...that is why.

Have you thought about looking at some northern schools? Sedbergh has very good Pastoral care and an all round education. Only hour and half from Manchester for flights...may be nearer 10k a term though but bursary could be an option?

Definitely look at Christ's Hospital-they have a hugely generous fee scheme and the majority of students pay considerably less than full fees. It's also a brilliant school.

I don't know much about the private/public school sector. But I suspect that if your son is unlikely to get substantial help in the form of scholarships, then he's unlikely to be an Oxbridge candidate in the future. Are you being realistic about your son's potential?

LOL at a 'quite' bright kid going to Oxbridge or Harvard!

jeee

Have you looked at Swaziland? Waterford Kamhlaba which is a United World Colleges school - I would love to send my DC to a UWC school personally.

www.waterford.sz

Tell it like it is sodding

I don't think the OP should give up on the idea - but it's not X Factor. "I really, really want this..." is not going to cut any ice with admissions people.

From what she's said before I gather the OP can afford something but, as you say, it isn't worth doing unless she goes for the best. And the activities she has so far managed to swerve on her DS's behalf are the very things that might build up the resilience, independence and ... stuff that enable someone to enjoy and benefit from boarding school life. It would be cruel to simply fly in and dump him with no experience or understanding of what's ahead.

Don't be that parent OP.

If you want Harvard in particular he's going to IMO have to be at a big name in the 6 th form who know how to prepare pupils. Win Coll as Im sure you know are now sending about 13% to the Ivy League every year
and 33% onto Oxford.
I don't wish to be unkind here but if he is as you say "quite bright" then surely he's not a candidate for the Ivy League and Harvard in particular? My DS is considered to be "exceptionally bright" and I wouldn't want bank on him getting in. A friend with an exceptionally bright DS (he's was a KS) looked at it there are 35 000 plus applications for something like 3000 places, and you don't just have to be academic but really shine in other areas as well. In the end he went to Cambridge instead.
He's going to have to get good (I)GCSE results and be able to do exceedingly well in any entrance exam/interview to get a place in the 6th form at any of the schools who are regularly preparing for the SAT, entrance into these type of schools is exceedingly competitive and they will take the brightest most capable, some of the schools mentioned abode (good as they probably are) are just not in this league and may just not provide the right level of preparation.

Ok. The truth is this boy is very bright. The tendency to not brag be modest is a cultural thing that I do without thinking.

The boy is scholarship material. It is just that coming from one completely different curriculum to sit scholarship exams in a another would even challenge Einstein himself.
We have previously gone through the maths papers for Eton's kings scholarship and he did almost half of the paper. And yet he is still 10 years old. He was very challenged with English and General paper..but, well..he is just 10 and has never been taught to decipher hidden meanings in poems.

Let's say that I am sure I know his potential. And that his potential is future Oxbridge material.

OP over several threads I still have no idea of what your son is like, or what he would want from a school....

I know he's still little but is he actively ambitious? Is he clamouring for extra work, team sports, a clarinet or at least piano lessons? Is he sociable, hard headed, more than a little pushy and competitive? Has he shown you Harvard or Oxford on your computer? Hmmm....

Can't you find something more local (and cheaper) till 6 th form? What about Marlborough Malaysia they appear to be about £24k if my exchange rate calculation is correct. The UK school definitely is trying to increase the numbers off to the Ivy League etc.

If he's "very bright" then I would definitely be looking at a prep for the next three years so that he can sit a scholarship exam into a big name you will then be much more likely to get a bursary. Summerfields, Dragon.Windlesham all spring to mind.

I don't think the OP is a UK/EU passport holder.

I have decided not to commit to a prep school without being sure that I can sustain his education in UK ...that is why.

WRONG!

Get on the phone now (while there's still someone sensible in the office) and arrange to visit the exact preps HG has just mentioned while you're here in September. Tell them he's clever and tell them what you're hoping for at senior level. A brilliant prep is your best hope for getting a bursary for senior school - I cannot emphasise this enough.

Just been thinking, I'm sure you know this but just in case you will also have to add into you budget a guardian unless you have family in the UK. I think the going rate is £25-30 a night, most go to their guardians for exeats, and half terms at the very least.

kimbolton?

Thank you
Very much.

#takingnotes

Not joking now.

Do exactly what we've told you!

From my experience, getting into a subjectively good school for Sixth form, such as the aforementioned Win Coll, is hard but they are not some form of impenetrable wall. If your son is really Oxbridge/Harvard material then he would also be a strong sixth form entrance candidate.

It is important to try and build up a range of extracurricular activities to make him an attractive candidate as these schools can be selective beyond just ability.

Agree with PP - a good full boarding prep school would be a worthwhile investment because he stands far more chance of getting a scholarship (not worth money in itself, but putting him in a far better position to get a bursary) with a couple of years preparation in a good prep school than if he comes in cold when the senior schools would be taking a risk based on potential.

A bursary could make far more difference to the affordability than the marginal difference between cheaper and more expensive boarding school fees.