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The only all-through school offering boarding is Thornton College, where around 60 girls (many international) board, from age 8 – mainly flexi, then weekly from year 7. Stowe School is a 13+ boarding school through and through, though pupils are now allowed to go home every weekend. We found boarding warm, cosy, intimate, with couples as house parents to create a home-from-home feel. Almost all girls board at Wycombe Abbey – full or nothing – but again, girls can go home at weekends. The school has some of the loveliest boarding accommodation we’ve seen, and year 7s get to keep chickens!
The only state boarding option in Bucks is The Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe. Forces families and boys in care are prioritised and these are mixed with some international pupils (although they must have a British/EU passport) and locals keen for the boarding experience.
Bucks borders several counties, most with a plethora of boarding schools. Firm favourites include Shiplake College, Queen Anne’s School, Haileybury, St George’s School, Ascot, Rugby School, Wellington College, St Edward’s School, Bradfield College, Headington School and Marlborough College, Harrow School and Eton College, though with Bucks’ excellent transport links, many go further still.
Need help? Perhaps you suspect your child has some learning difficulty and you would like advice on what you should do. Or perhaps it is becoming clear that your child's current school is not working for him or her, and you need help to find a mainstream school which has better SEN provision, or to find a special school which will best cater for your child's area of need. Our SEN consultancy team advises on both special schools, and the mainstream schools with good SEN support, from reception through to the specialist colleges for 19+. Special Educational Needs Index
Find top international, British, IB and American schools in over 40 countries. The Good Schools Guide International publishes impartial and forthright reviews of international schools across the world.
We examined the value-added from KS2 to GCSE for 2022 to see which state selective grammar schools added the most value to their offspring. A note of caution - the more highly selective a grammar school, the less scope there will be to add value.
Grammar schools are state-funded, academically selective senior schools. The education a child receives at grammar school is paid for by the state unlike at private schools which provide education for a fee. There are currently around 163 located in 36 English local authorities, with around 167,000 pupils between them. Northern Ireland has a further 67 grammar schools, but there are none in Wales or Scotland. A word of caution: there are private schools that have the word 'grammar' in their name but this is purely for historical reasons.
At specialist music, dance or performing arts schools, the arts aren't optional extras. They’re intrinsic to the school curriculum. Students are expected to fit in high level training and hours of practice alongside a full academic provision. It's a lot to ask any child to take on, but for those with exceptional performing ability this kind of education can be transformative.