State Boarding Schools: Free Tuition, Just Pay For Your Stay!

State boarding schools

Would your child benefit from a boarding school education? Are you put off by high fees? If so, state boarding schools may be the answer.

State boarding schools are cheaper because the government foots the bill for tuition, you only pay for the boarding element.

Boarding costs vary between schools but are approximately £7,000 - £12,000 per annum. The majority are secondary or senior schools, educating children from the ages of 11 (or 13) most are co-educational but some are single sex. A number have been visited and reviewed by The Good Schools Guide.

Admission to state boarding schools is open to British Citizens, EU passport holders and anyone with right of residence in The UK. Further information can be found on the State Boarding Schools Association SBSA website or see below for details of State Boarding Schools.

State boarding schools in England

School name (boarders ages) Boarding F = Full boarding W = Weekly boarding sel = selective

Adams' Grammar School, Newport (7-18) F W
Ashby School, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire (11-19) F W
Brymore School, Bridgewater, Somerset (13-17) A GSG School
Burford School & Community College, Burford, Oxfordshire (11-18) F W A GSG School
Burleigh Community College, Loughborough, Leicestershire (13-19) F
Colchester Royal Grammar School, Colchester, Essex (16-18) F W A GSG School
Cranbrook School, Cranbrook Kent (13-18) - F W sel A GSG School
Dallam School, Milnthorpe, Cumbria (11-18) F
De Aston School, Market Rasen, Lincolnshire (11-18)
Duke of York's Royal Military School, Dover, Kent (11-18) F - open only to children of HM Forces and children of veterans with at least 4 years service.
Gordon's School, Woking, Surrey (11-18) F A GSG School
Haydon Bridge Community High School, Haydon Bridge, Hexham (13-18) W
Hockerill Anglo-European College, Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire (11-19) F W A GSG School
Keswick School, Keswick, Cumbria (11-18) F W A GSG School
Kings' School, Winchester, Hampshire (11-18) F W
Lancaster Royal Grammar School, Lancaster, Lancashire (11-18) F W A GSG School
Old Swinford Hospital, Stourbridge, West Midlands (11-18) F W
Peter Symonds College, Winchester, Hampshire (16-19) F A GSG School
Queen Elizabeth's Community College, Crediton, Devon (11-18) F
Reading School, Reading, Berkshire (11-18)
Ripon Grammar School, Ripon, N Yorkshire (11-18) W sel A GSG School
Royal Alexandra and Albert School, Reigate Surrey (7-18) F W
Sexey's School, Bruton, Somerset (11-18) F W A GSG School
Shaftesbury School, Shaftesbury, Dorset (11-18) F
Sir Roger Manwood's School, Sandwich, Kent (11-18) F W sel A GSG School
Skegness Grammar School, Skegness, Lincolnshire (11-18) F sel
St George's School, Harpenden, Hertfordshire (11-18) F W A GSG School
Steyning Grammar School, Steyning, West Sussex (11-18) F W
The Five Islands School, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly (11-16) W - primarily for children from the off-islands of Scilly
The Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire (11-18) F W sel A GSG School
The Thomas Adams School, Wem, Shropshire (11-18) F
The Westgate School, Winchester, Hampshire (11-16) F W
Welbeck - The Defence Sixth Form College, Loughborough, Leicestershire (16-18) F - MODs specialist sixth-form college. All students take mathematics and physics plus BTEC Uniformed Services
Wymondham College, Wymondham, Norfolk (11-18) F A GSG School

State boarding schools in Wales

St Brigid's School, Denbigh, Denbighshire (7-18) F

The Good Schools Guide 2012

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Ripon Grammar School, Ripon is a state school for boys and girls aged from 11 to 18, that takes boarders.

Demand for boarding places (14 a year) outstrips supply, especially post-GCSE. An unashamedly academic school, exemplifying much of the traditional English grammar school tradition, though certainly not an exam factory; even so, those with an IQ of lower than 120 could eventurally find the pace too hot.

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