Sixth form boarding for international student

[southafricansixthformer]

Looking for a boarding sixth form for my daughter - co-ed or all girls
She has grown up in South Africa with a non UK curriculum
Looking for a non selective (ish) school with good results but not too much pressure - she is behind as the SA curriculum is less challenging than UK.
Preferably a school with dance as an extramural
Needs to offer bursaries

@southafricansixthformer
This can be difficult. I had a friend with the same dilemma. The SA curriculum doesn’t easily lead to A levels offered by most schools. However they were paying.

You really won’t get a bursary unless you have a very low income and often they award to Dc who are going to get top grades. Especially at 6th form. Bursary money is often all spent in younger years too. You might find it hard to find anywhere with 6th form bursaries. Some do. RG GDST schools. Not sure they offer boarding but they might be worth a look. Then trawl the Good Schools Guide. The ISA schools guide will tell you if a school is selective or not. Big names will be. Smaller country schools less so. Try Quaker schools.

Have a look at Bede's Senior in East Sussex. Mildly selective at 6th form but I know some very high achievers there. Not pressured and good pastoral care. They run a good dance programme and are used to getting overseas students to where they need to be for A levels. They do offer burseries, but of course your child would have to meet their criteria (which I believe is both on family income and on the extent to which they think your child will benefit from what they offer).

Peter Symonds is a state 6th Form College in Winchester with boarding, and offers Dance at A level. Might be worth a look?

https://www.bedales.org.uk/ Bedales is a lovely school with a great dance department (you can even do it as an A level). It's less structured than many so would work well for someone joining having studied a different curriculum.

It has a reputation for being a bit hippyish compared to traditional boarding schools, lots of time spent outdoors and children given a lot of independence- that suits some and not others. Teaching is great.

Hi
look at St Swithuns girls school in Winchester and Talbot Heath girls ( mixed) and Bournemouth collegiate ( mixed) which are all suitable with dance as extra mural activity - Bmth Collegiate in particular has lots of dance.

you will also need a guardianship company as an international student. Have a look at Bright World Guardianships - they will lots of awards and good reviews.

if it’s entry for September 2023 you are looking for you need to sort quickly as places fill up

Are you looking for this September? IB or A levels?

Have a look at Windermere school - does the International Baccalaureate instead of Alevels so may suit your daughter better. Very international feel in a traditionally English setting. Quite a small school though. Maybe 250 students?

Some schools offer a one year GCSE programme which might ease in to the UK curriculum better.

St Swithuns is selective.

I was going to suggest Windermere also. The 'Theatre' option in the IB can be tailored towards dance.

Looking for September 2024. Not sure about IB or A levels. She went on exchange to Gordonstoun so she has a feel of how A levels are. I’ve heard IB is more challenging and can be too overwhelming. But open to either

Can you clarify if she wants to study dance as a subject. I took “extra mural” to be extra curricular ie a hobby offered after school but others are talking about studying dance so I could well be wrong?

I know of girls at Bradfield, weekly boarder, and Bruton, full time boarder. Both very happy.

Extra mural usually means “outside study”
or in addition. However depends whether it’s ballet, modern, tap etc ISTD, Cecchetti or what method/syllabus? You tend to study a precise syllabus and you cannot just swap. Easier for modern but not always.

Some schools have good dance provision. Uppingham snd Heathfield for example. The bursary is the big issue. They do often follow good academics and the SA system isn’t helpful. Doing A levels is a real stretch as the syllabi don’t match.

What do you mean by "bursary" though? Those are normally reserved for those children from low income homes who would benefit from and be an asset to the school but could not otherwise access such an education. They may not cover full costs. Unusual for overseas or boarding pupils to qualify. Scholarships are awarded to candidates who excel academically, or in sport, music, drama, art etc but are often of little financial value,

You're not going to get a bursary in the UK as an international applicant, especially an academically weak one. You're probably better off reaching out to boarding high schools in the USA.

She currently goes to an independent day school in SA on a 80% academic scholarship. Schools are much cheaper over here so we only end up paying around £1,500 a year.

She is on the SA dance national team and competes and a high level so we could also be looking to apply for a dance scholarship.

She is academically high achieving, but the SA curriculum doesn’t stretch her at all. She and her friends get 90-100% for every assessment and exam. So we thought it would be good to see if she could widen her horizons and try get into a UK boarding school, she loved it after being on exchange at Gordonstoun. She has a British passport so it would be good for us to be there for those years so she can qualify for cheaper uni.

We know it’s hugely unlikely and a big long shot for her to get in. She would need a bursary - but we aren’t looking for 100% - more likely 60-80% as that’s what we can afford. I’d heard of schools which provide assistance just based up to what you need, rather than a lump award of 100%.

We don’t expect her to get in anywhere, but we are going to try as it would be very beneficial to get out of the failing SA system and open many doors for her.

Have you tried phoning the admissions team at Gordonstoun? If you have an existing relationship with them, they might be more amenable? Otherwise, unless you are resident in the UK at the time of application I’d think it highly unlikely you would qualify for a means tested bursary. UK school Bursaries are designed to help UK pupils gain access to an education which they couldn’t normally access without funds. She may well get a scholarship award as others have said but these are usually in the order of 5-10% or free lessons for the discipline. You’ll also have to factor in flights/trips/uniform/travel and a guardianship service. All in all, it won’t be a low cost option. Could you consider moving to the uk so she can attend a regular sixth form or attend a dance school?

@southafricansixthformer
I think you are not being fair to South African education. My DDs did a swap with a girls boarding schooL in KZN. The curriculum is not the same but obviously very bright Dc stay in the SA system and go to first class universities in SA. I know some who have come here with their SA qualifications and have gone to RG universities. However I see residence here is your prime issue for uni fee reduction, as opposed to wanting a SA university and education. Plus the school is expected to waive fees for you to achieve this.

its going to be hard to find what you want. When DDs went to SA, one year in SA was 1 term fees here. I really would stay as you are. Also dance scholarships. As rare as hens teeth. Bradfield used to have them. I don’t know of others. Or try Tring Park. They are a specialist performing arts school. I think you won’t get academics, high level dance and a bursary. Almost impossible, but good luck.

Also there are South African schools following the “Cambridge “ curriculum of i GCSEs and A levels. Are they worth looking at? I would not look the gift horse in the mouth you already have though. What a fantastic reduction in fees!

You might like to look at the schools related to Gordonstoun www.roundsquare.org/our-schools/ They tend to actively attract international students and may offer funding to some, although fees tend to be steep anyway. They are also variable in terms of academic rigour if that is what you are seeking and have an ethos which differs to most traditional independent schools. Also be aware that you may find living in UK for schooling is insufficient for her to qualify for uni Home Fee status, even with a British Passport.

To qualify for free fees for Scottish unis and for the rUK fee rates you’d have to be ordinarily resident in the UK for 3 years, and you’d also need to be ordinarily resident in Scotland or rUK on the relevant date, which is something like the 1st August before the course starts - this can’t be just for the purposes of education.

Hockerill Anglo-European College in Hertfordshire is a state day and boarding school which offers the IB and has lots of international students. It's not that difficult to get into the sixth form (much harder in year 7).

Tbh most private boarding schools are struggling with an uneven balance of genuine British pupils and international ones. There's less and less families that can afford a British boarding school so when they do offer bursaries, it's to attract bright UK candidates that helps balance out that ratio. UK parents tend to avoid schools with too many international students.

Both my two went to Millfield in Somerset. Like many BS in UK, very international and they do have dance as an intramural. As per previous posters you are unlikely to get a bursary unless she's very talented and from a low income family. Scholarships only really given if very talented or academic.
You're best off to identify a few schools and get in touch with them.