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.

If you're serious about the Ivy Leagues and money is tight would it would be better to save your money for now and educate him in your country ?an international school and then move home to one of the big names who do SAT preparation in their 6 th form.
None of the ones mentioned that are within your budget are likely to do proper SAT preparation it's just not on their radar or the radar of the parents therefore you have to ask yourself is he's going to be any better off at them till the 6 th firm than being educated in your country? If he's doing well on the math section of the KS then someone has taught him something something very well so education can't be all bad.
At many like SPS most of their new 6 th formers will be international students so he would not be prejudiced against because he's not come from or been educated in the UK.

I am going to go against the trend here and hazard a guess that you may fall out of bursary limits for the likes of Eton and Winchester. I would ask those schools for ballpark hypothetical limits (including any capital you have). If you are over the limit then however bright your DS, sending him to prep school will improve the chances of scholarship but not for bursary. You may therefore be in the position of not being able to afford senior boarding school for him in the UK after 2 years at prep school.
If he is very bright that will show when he applies for sixth form and I am sure he will be motivated and self directed age 15 /16.
Perhaps until then you could spend money on summers in the UK with some intensive tutoring there or courses.

But don't you think summer that if the OP found herself in that situation her DS would still be better off with the knowledge and experience gained from two years at a prep?

They'd know exactly where he would be in the pecking order, the nature of the potential competition, and exactly how hard and fast he would need to be working in the future. And they'd have time to get advice (even if not from the prep) on the best school anywhere, for him, that she could afford.

In fact, thinking about it, two years of boarding prep and then entry to a fantastic day school, living with a very carefully chosen host family, might be a very satisfactory outcome.

He'd have pretty much everything she wants for him.

Zero - Agree for prep school plus day option. Summer Fields / Dragon then Magdalen College with a host family? I have no idea how one finds a very carefully chosen host family but it can't be impossible.
I think for a very bright child both those preps would give academic awards.
Plan B, sixth form option - Westminster, St Paul's or Winchester. (With holiday tutoring / courses in UK until then.
There you are Immensely, all sorted ??.

Does giving your child the best education possible have to involve sending him to a boarding school in another country? What about sending him to the local school, but using the money you would have spent on boarding school to pay for extra tuition, music lessons, sports coaching, etc, to encourage him to blossom in all the areas he's involved in? If you're contemplating spending £10k+ a year, that would be a lot of extra help you could afford.

Must emphasise that I'm not at all disapproving of your choice to send your son to boarding school - I just want to raise the suggestion of other ways in which your money could help him get the best start.

I think by all mean put his name down for Eton, Wincoll, Westminster or St Paul. I don't think it cost that much to register. Aim high if you believe he has the ability. He will need to pass the pre-test and interview at 11, and you will know whether he is bright enough for these schools. Then, you can decide whether you want to save up to pay for the school fee, ask for bursary or go for plan B. You still have time to go for the less selective school if he does not make the cut.
We did that for DS, he went for both Westminster and Wincoll at 11, did the pre test and interview, got through round one, then aim for 13+ and he could stay in Int'l Sch if he did not get in. After passing both exams at 13, we had all 3 options. We eventually went for Wincoll.
There were lots of preparation required. (different curriculums in Int'l Sch) So you need a very self motivated kid and willing to put in lots of effort in order to succeed. I thought DS is brilliant in Maths( but the Asian and Chinese kids are mile ahead), I thought he is good at music too(but in Wincoll, there are many amazing musicians all with Grade 8 or diploma).

Have you thought about Michaelhouse in South Africa? We have Nigerian friends whose children go there and are very happy. No obvious problems with racism. In fact one of the reasons our friends chose it for their son was that they thought there would be fewer race related issues than there might be in a British school. Much cheaper than a UK. Our friends are also thinking about UK Or USA for university as the school sends students all over the world.

If you're looking for a bursary then you need to have an open and honest conversation with the schools bursar establishing if they will consider you before even getting on a plane to fly here proceeding to far with any kind of application. Have you mentioned bursaries yet to the schools you're looking at? Your not asking for a definite yes or no you just need to sound them out, firstly check whether bursaries are even offered to those outside the UK, (I believe some don't) briefly detail you asserts (in my dreams) and your outgoings include airfares guardians etc and state approximately how much of a reduction you're likely to realistically need. You are not asking for a massive reduction if you can afford 9k so many schools are hopefully likely to be prepared to consider you're application. But you are going to have to sell your DS. You say he's very bright although you under sold him in your original post. Don't do this most schools offering bursaries will want something in return and being very bright and thus likely to go onto a prestigious university is right up there on their lists of desirable pupils who should receive bursaries. Only a few schools will give you any indication of any fee reduction they are prepared to offer in well advance, most wait till you sat the entrance exam, and they've done the number crunching so often the summer term before entry.
My DS is at one of the schools mentioned above we are on a reasonable income (we don't qualify for CB) but we still receive a bursary, many on here will tell you that you have to be on less than a certain amount to qualify the figure £40k is often bandied around but certainly for boarding schools this is not always the case.
I agree with the comments up thread find yourself a good prep school (one with a proven track record of success) ASAP especially if your hoping for a scholarship into one of the top academic schools, they will not only prepare your DS well but also offer you good advise on which schools he would be a strong candidate for and can even put in a good word for your DS when it come to applying for a bursary. Finally we were told many years ago by a very knowledgable teacher to get a scholarship into a big very academic name you don't just have to be very bright but your DC has to be prepared to really give their all to it in the last year of prep if not the last two year, plenty of very bright children are often slightly on the lazy side because they've never had to work hard as everything comes easily.
Good luck.

Also if you have ambitions to Oxbridge et al you may want to look at the overseas fees and potential sources of funding as I believe that will differ to UK residents : for example www.study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/international/finance/

Op in the nicest possible one I think you are delusional to think your ds is headed for Oxbridge/ Harvard.
Also very confused re the racism in South Africa I am making an assumption so forgive me if I am wrong that your ds is black. I have many South African friends and there is a great deal of racism towards white people to the extent where their jobs are being taking away from them and given to black people. I feel you are massively stereotyping to rule out South Africa as it is today because of it's racism towards black people sadly it goes both ways.

way not one.

Sorry missed your follow up post about how bright your ds was your originally post didn't give that impression just didn't want you to spend so much money on a pipe dream but different if he is exceptional.

If he's already 10 it might be worth asking for him to sit pre-tests at one or more of these schools when you visit (normally taken in Year 6/7). These aren't tests of what you have been taught/learnt but assess innate reasoning and quantative ability so would give you an idea of whether he is really perceived as bright as you think and would be considered for a place, let alone a scholarship. Would also suggests he reads widely and is able to discuss current affairs.

The 13+ entry route for o/s students can differ to those educated in UK and some schools even run a parallel class to help bring them up to speed and integrate into the main school body for GCSE courses, or would recommend a feeder prep. The scholarship students I know of moving on to major schools were already good GCSE standard at 13.

Do I gather you may have more than one child to consider ? It is a huge long term financial commitment you are thinking of pursuing.

Just a thought, but South African boarding schools are typically one third the price of UK ones and many are highly regarded, eg Michaelhouse, Hilton College etc. Lots of children from other African countries go to them. Flights home would be cheaper and you really would save a great deal of money. They spend more time in school as well and less time with guardians.

Bishop Stortford College is under £9K

Have you looked at the state boarding schools? Some are excellent and considerably cheaper even when paying international fees. There are conditions though so you'd need to see if you qualify. www.sbsa.org.uk

strange, op wouldn't be eligible to use state boarding schools.

Thanks again for all your posts. I am sincerely grateful.

SoonToBeSix, yes my son is black! and yes you are right about the racism being both ways. Realistically, South Africa would have been the best option for me..it is cheaper on all levels and the quality of education in some schs is almost comparably good. But I will be sincere with you..and the others who have suggested it. I hate it when people hate each other for any reason..esp for race and religious differences. I am talking facts here..whatever colour one is in South Africa he/she will be hated by the other colour people. I don't want my kids to grow up with such hatred ( that is the reason we do not ever watch slavery movies in my home).

I am taking note of all your opinions. Let me and DH deliberate on the issue and I will let you know what our decision will be. In the meantime, we will visit the prep schs happyGardening suggested and some of the senior schools in my first post. We registered at Eton, so he will be doing the assesment this fall and we shall judge. May be we are indeed delusional !

Just a thought but how are you planning to fund Oxbridge/Harvard if you're worried about boarding school fees? Fees for international students for Oxbridge are about on a par with top boarding fees and on top of that you'd still have to fund his accommodation, food, flights etc etc so the total bill would be much, much more and frankly without a substantial bursary the cost for Harvard would be ludicrous

Also what are you planning for your other children?

As far as we have seen, the quality boarding schools in South Africa treat fee paying children/parents equally. There are plenty of high achieving black children in these schools, but I do understand if it is not for you.

sodding I have been told ( I am yet to verify) that when international students study in UK senior schools they pay home fees ( or something like that). But whatever the case, I will jump that bridge when I reach it.

Home fees it university, that is

In...not it. Urgh