UK special needs boarding school for overseas student without a SEN.

[fjcruiser]

We live in Dubai and my son who has special needs (ADHD/Dyslexia) is currently tutored. When he is 13/14 we would like him to attend a UK special needs boarding school. Schools seem to require a SEN but as we never had one in the UK nor live here anymore so I am not sure what the procedure is. Please help.

Do you mean statementing?

My son does not have a UK statement but he was assessed in Dubai by an ed psychologist and was found to have ADHD/Dyslexia. I have been looking at the Breckenbrough School. It mentions the child need a SEN to get in there so I was wondering about the procedure if you live abroad.

SEN boarding schools are hugely expensive and I can't imagine you'd get any LEA here to pay for your son.

If you can manage the fees (60k + pa) then I expect you could get a place but this would be highly unusual.

Just re-read your post, private schools that specialise in dyslexia are more common and cheaper so you might have more luck going doing that route. Places like Mark College in Somerset for example.

Thanks DomesticCEO.60K is way above my budget LOL.I will look at the Mark College website.

I suspected it might be .

If his behaviour isn't too much of an issue then a dyslexia school is definitely the way to go.

I suggest that you look at the Crested list of schools for children with dyslexia as your starter for 10. Next I would suggest getting a copy of the Good School Guide. This is available from Amazon. Could can also subscribe online.

I don't know about school you mentioned but the details you provide might suggest that it is one for children with moderate to severe difficulties hence requirement to have SEN. Other schools include Brighton College which has an international intake. As you are outside the UK, bear in mind that you will have to have a UK Guardian to act on your behalf. A good boarding school will have a list of agencies that provide this service.

Why not contact Breckenborough and get some information from them about their policies and fees? It is true that residential special schools are very expensive because of the high levels of staffing required - our lowest fees are £30k, (significantly) more if there are more needs for individual support.

Does your son need a specialist school or would he cope with a school which has excellent SEN support? My DS attended an independent school where he had outstanding learning support which enabled him to get outstanding GCSE results. It would be a lot cheaper for you to go down this route & you would also have a better selection of schools to choose from.