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.

Hi, obviously there may be something in the small print that I haven't found but Thomas Adams School is a state school with boarding facilities in Wem, North Shropshire and has international students (I work there, I have met them!). Their brochure lists Uganda and also Nigeria as countries that they have pupils from. Worth a look? It is an outstanding school according to Ofsted and has really nice pupils and staff (I wouldn't work there as an invigilator if they weren't!). The website is: www.thomasadams.org.uk One of the international pupils I supervised this summer is hoping to stay for a second year, was originally only going to do one (common practice with European students), so must be a pretty nice place to live!

Youneedto lookat a website like ISBI www.isbi.com as it lists school fees. it may not always be bang upto date but is a good starting point.

Welsh boarding schools are cheaper such as:
Christ College
Monmouth School
Llandovery College

kurlique why would the OP wish to pay to send her DS to a school with 65 boarders, approximately 50% got grades A-B at A level and no SAT preparation. I'm not querying the quality of Thomas Adams but it doesn't tick any of the OP's boxes apart from being significantly cheaper that the ones she's interested in so surely for her it's not good value for money in any shape or form.

Oops... I was only stating that some children from her country are in the UK state boarding system contrary to other posters' assertions.... MN is all a bit new to me and I hadn't noticed that there were more pages with all the stuff about Harvard/Oxbridge! There is the UK education system and then there's the UK education system isn't there... and I have met international children in both state and private boarding sectors, but whether their parents are as ambitious for their offspring I couldn't say! What I would say though is that what some of the smaller northern private boarding schools might offer is that it is easier to gain a scholarship and therefore access bursaries as there is less competition from hot-housed children from top preps (I know because my DD gained a scholarship from one such school without attending a prep or having a tutor - she is a bright all-rounder but not a genius - and we were then offered the opportunity to apply for a bursary) and they certainly encourage ambition and prepare for Oxbridge etc.

Hi kurlique welcome to MN and the education sections. There can be lots of controversy on here! But most are friendly.
The OP wishes to her DS to have SAT preparation as an option. Currently very few schools are doing this with any seriousness, for the main reason that unfortunately only a very few Ivy League universities are needs blind to UK students so parents considering US universities are likely to be able to afford the top schools with their associated fees, therefore SAT preparation is only likely to be done with any seriousness in those handful of top performing schools.

You say you want a good education for your children but that involves living and learning about life at home with family and friends and in your own country and surroundings . So many children have suffered from being sent to England to school and will describe the strange buildings and cold and general culture which are all totally miserable and alien ... And that is when they sent to "good"schools . You are looking for "cheap" schools and those can also produce cheap education and grades which will not get you into further education. You sound a loving and caring Mum that wants the best for her children. Keep them at home and in local schools and they will grow up happy. If they want to travel to get further education it can be done without any harm when they are adults..

byah a I don't know how much direct personal current experience you have of children being sent to the UK from abroad for education but I have a lot. Most I know love the myriad of opportunities that a good school provide, the chance to meet and make new friends, experience a different culture, in some cases a far superior education and in others a different style of education. Of course some are miserable, but many see it as a life changing opportunity and grab it with both hands. I agree that we should live and learning with our family/friends and in our own surrounding but also believe that living and learning about the world can be significantly enhanced by boarding. The OP's DS is not 2 years old he would be 11 going on 12 at the earliest, he will not be sent to the UK and never see his parents again, most at boarding schools get 20+ weeks holiday a year and therefore plenty of opportunities to go home to his own family/friends and surroundings to carry on learning from them.
I'm embarrassed to say that I know little about education in Uganda but I very much doubt the OP is thinking of sending her DS half way round the world and stumping up 34k + in school fees because the education system in her own country is far superior in all ways.

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 what does he want?

I only know two people who went to Oxbridge, both went from comps.

Has anyone asked this little boy what he wants?

Children are pretty quick to pick up on what their parents want IME most then at his age go along with it. It's also possible that amongst his family and friends coming to the UK for education is common so he has accepted it as a normal option. The OP says she wants him to go to Harvard/Oxbridge I'm assuming she wants him to be in the best position to obtain a place at either of these assuming he's bright enough and most importantly of all wishes too.

"Children are pretty quick to pick up on what their parents want IME most then at his age go along with it"

That's what I'm worried about.

Isn't that what parents are for Hak?

What, to give a 10 year old child the idea that in order to please them he has to go thousands of miles away from home, family and friends to boarding school in a foreign country and get into Oxford or Harvard because that way his mother "can die happy"?

No. That's not what parents are for.

No... To guide them towards where in life they think they might thrive best. It would be a strange parent who dragged a child kicking and screaming, with no discussion, to a completely hostile and unhelpful environment. But equally strange to sit with hands folded and ask your ten year old to plan out its own education with no input from you whatsoever.

And why should we assume that the OP has not first established that her DS has at least some enthusiasm for broadening his horizons and trying out new challenges?

Also - I've never ever met a single person, adult or child, anywhere in Africa, who would not like the chance of education at the very highest level for whatever they're interested in!

I haven't read all the replies so not sure if I am repeating myself but

Caterham school in Surrey just over your 9 K

and

Beechwood school in Kent

I have friends with children in both school and both sing the schools praises.. just under your 9 K

My DS2 had lots of friends at boarding prep (before he went) he just assumed it was a normal thing to do. Children unlike adults dont come with all the emotional baggage about boarding, endless and tedious tales of DH's, BIL's, best friends friends DH's being dysfunctional sociopaths unable to form relationships because they've been to boarding school.
I've met and worked with sociopaths, surprisingly none went to boarding school. I'm not saying that some out there have but life is always so much more complicated than we like to think it is.

Who mentioned sociopaths? What a very odd post.

Haklut what us your problem with OP sending her DS to the UK for education?

My problem? Well, I have a big problem with children being so far away from their families for so long-what with the cost and length of flights he is unlikely to see much of his family. I have a big problem with parents investing so much emotionally in their children- all this if he goes to Oxford I can die happy stuff. I have a big problem with making such long term plans for children- and putting children in a position where it's very hard for them to say "actually, mum, I don't want to be a lawyer(or doctor or academic or whatever the OP has in mind for him) I want to be an artist, or a plumber or a farmer"

Personally I think the bigger issue is overseas families who seem willing to part with large sums of cash and entrust their dc to British schools purely on the basis of international reputation and marketing, often sight unseen. At least op is willing to make the journey, visit schools and meet staff face to face. Whether her ds shares her ambitions and is capable of achieving them remains to be seen.

Of course Hakluyt we can all tell other parents what to do when we're sitting smug in an affluent country like the UK with a GDP (pp) of $37 300 in comparison with Uganda's of $1500, and 25% of Ugandan children between the age of 5-14 working in child labour. But the OP may feel that by sending her DS to the UK she is giving him a better chance in life! I personally don't think this is wrong in any shape or form but perfectly understandable.

Happygardening- the OP is considering sending her child to an expensive UK boarding school. I very much doubt if she or her son are in the child labour demographic.

And my other points still pertain.

Have you heard of kamuzu academy in Malawi? I've heard it referred to as the Eaton of southern Africa!

Yes but maybe the OP feels her DS's life chances will significantly improved by sending him to the UK.
We are complacent in the UK many in developing countries see a good education either gets you out of or alternatively keeps you out of the gutter.