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.

Have you been to see schools in South Africa? I really don't recognise your depiction of it tbh.

MiddleClassonBursary, I have PMed you.

Elizabeth I will do so. I just hadn't considered South Africa coz of that bias. But I will do look at them.

Do have a look - I think it might be a really good solution for you. Some SA schools are world class. Look at UWC in Swaziland too!

I'm afraid that's not the case -it depends on where the parents are so unless you're all planning to move over for the three years prior to your ds going to university then that won't work

My cousin is a British citizen but was living overseas during her childhood and was unable to go to a UK uni because the fees would have been prohibitive - she ended up at the Sorbonne

You do need to check out the current situation before embarking on that path -the difference in fees is absolutely enormous and for some courses can make school fees look like chicken feed

Woah! Now that is something else to consider!

I'm afraid you are mistaken regarding fees. If your son has been domiciled here for three years it is true he would pay home fees. However if the purpose of his domicile here is education that doesNOT count.

I also think you'd be surprised at the amount of racism over here - there are VERY few black kids in our top public schools.

Soontobesix your post shows a complete misunderstanding of colonialism, apartheid and reconciliation.

Op I know first hand how racist SA can be but I promise you a lot has changed also different provinces have changed faster than others. I'd have a look at Gauteng province as mentioned before Pretoria boys in an excellent school.

I also think you'd be surprised at the amount of racism over here - there are VERY few black kids in our top public schools.

titchy It may be that oher people have had a more positive experience than your post might suggest...

Zero, I think a lot has changed with the passage of time. I went to a non fee paying but super selective sixth form on the whole I had a positive experience.

I met a girl who went to same school three years earlier and the most horrific abuse.

I would really be not only surprised ( at racism being a big issue in UK / your public schs) but also most definitely put off!. Please enlighten me. I really need to know.

No theXxed I have a lot of knowledge and have a close friend whose family member was shot for being white.

OP, pls ignore the warnings about racism in U.K top public schools. A lot has changed over the years. I personally know quite a number of black children in public/Independent schools, who are very happy, made friends etc. Many of these schools also have a reasonable international intake, so everyone is used to see people of different races, no ones bat an eyelid. Certainly that would be the least of your worries at Eton! Harrow is even more international.

Whatever you decide, good luck!

Have you looked at Northern Irish boarding schools? Say, Armagh Royal Academy, or Royal School Dungannon - they used to be quite a bit cheaper than mainland boarding and had, and still do, an excellent reputation for quality of education.

And from that one incident you can make a judgement about the race relations of an entire nation. I am not saying that white south Africans are not murdered but you really need to examine it within a wider context.

africacheck.org/reports/are-white-afrikaners-really-being-killed-like-flies/

Ruthin School. I used to live near Ruthin. The fees are currently £24k for a year full boarding.

Its a very international mix of pupils. When you see the pupils out and about in Ruthin (small market town a short walk from the school) they appear happy.

Locally it had quite a good reputation. I knew a few adults who'd been there as day pupils.

200 pupils Mis?!

Gosh, that's tiny for a senior school. (Off to poke my nose into the Prospectus...)

sodding Harvard is one of a very small group of US universities to hades a needs blind admission policy.

Schools like Ruthin (how ever good it might be) are just not going to prepare a child for the SAT especially into Harvard et al. Wn Coll are offering separate specialised preparation classes for those who want to sit the SAT and who are aiming at Ivy League universities. I can't see the point in paying for a cheaper school till yr 11 and then having to move to get SAT preparation if I was the OP and money was tight I'd educate my DS at home and move him for the 6 th form for SAT preparation.

Wondering whether the goal is the best education possible at secondary level or admission to Harvard/Oxbridge? If your main goal is admission to Harvard (or YP et al), you may be better off giving your son the best possible education in Uganda. Harvard looks to admit students who have made the most of the situation in which they find themselves, those who have maximized the opportunities available, not just those who are the academic elite. A star student from Uganda may have a better shot than the same student from a middling UK boarding school, as there may be more of the latter and fewer of the former.
Not sure about Oxbridge -- people with whom I've spoken about this say that Oxbridge is focussed almost exclusively on academic results (other board members can undoubtedly say more on this) and in this case, you may be better off getting your son to wherever he is likely to get those results. I suggest you look at the Oxbridge site to check what the academic minimum requirements are for the exams that your son is likely to take if he remains in the Ugandan system, if you haven't already. That should give you a sense of if you're in the ballpark. Harvard doesn't really have a similar site as they are cagey with that type of info.
In any event looking for a school that will be less than 10K a term isn't likely to save you more than a few thousand annually, and you'll have to balance that savings against the possible reduction in academic rigor.
My personal view is that you either go for the absolute top you can manage or take a completely different route. I have two going down a completely different route who have thusfar managed outstanding exam results and one headed toward a very very traditional but equally academically rigorous route.

It is me, back with an update.

So, this is what I have decided to do.

1st choice - I am going to only aim for (what I think is) the best in UK, even if I have to stretch to pay, if he gets no bursary, that is. This is especially becaause we had already registered at E and I have confirmed visits with several housemasters at W etc. Should he pass the pre-assesments, then I will take him to a prep school in UK to boost his chances, as many of you advised. Unfortunately, I was only able to book a visit with dragons. SF, pilgrim and others I checked were closed - calls went straight to voicemail. ( I e-mailed some, but haven't got any replies yet).

2nd choice - if he doesn't pass the preassesments, then I have decided that he will stay here and I will give him the best education and other opportunities here and try as much as possible to ensure he is the kind of candidate the big names will fall over themselves for, for 6th form. hoping adolescence doesn't fall in the way of that

Thank you for all your comments. I will continue to update u as we go along.

Best of luck to your DS, please tell us how you and he get on.

You need to look at the northern boarding schools
St. Peter's in York is £87770/term
Ashville, Harrogate is £8420/term
Barnard Castle school ( unsurprisingly in Barnard castle) is £8253/term
Durham school is £8645/term
Of these I have friends with dcs at the first 3 and all are really happy with their choices, I don"t know that much about Durham these days, although went to the girls school in the same city many moons ago so knew plenty of boys who went there in the past.

As HG said we look forward to hearing how it all goes. It will be interesting to see which schools fit your DS.