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If this is your first foray into boarding school selection it is worth reading our feature on the different types of boarding available. In Devon there are five options: For standalone prep boarding, Exeter Cathedral School has boarding places for 43 children, around half of these are for choristers, but all boarders are from the UK and there are some fabulous activities and good pastoral support on offer. St Peter’s Prep in Exmouth offers boarding on a flexi basis; a handy option for children wanting to try it out before deciding whether boarding at ‘big school’ is for them.
Plymouth College boarding is set up with swim training in mind, 60 per cent of boarders are elite swimmers and divers. Half of the boarders are from the UK, the rest from a mix of 38 different countries. Evening and weekend options are wide and adventurous. Mount Kelly, has a thriving boarding set-up, two thirds of the school boards, around a quarter are international pupils and a third are swimmers. Good flexi-boarding options but rather scruffy accommodation, ‘most of the fun is to be had outside’, with plenty of activities on offer at weekends. Another outdoorsy haven is Blundell’s School, where two thirds board. A mix of full, weekly and flexi is on offer with luxurious accommodation for the sixth form. West Buckland School has increasing numbers of boarders as you go up through the school, with a great sixth form accommodation offering. Plenty of activities, trips and facilities on and an active, family minded atmosphere.
There is a rare state boarding school in Exeter Mathematics School, which offers a small number of boarding places to pupils who live too far away to do the daily commute.
The south west of England is home to some of the UK’s most outstanding private boarding schools, so the choice for families living in Devon is broad. However, there are a few (probably as they are the closest) for which Devon based families have longstanding preferences.
Millfield School in Street, Somerset, excels at educating talented young sportsmen and women, musicians and artists while achieving admirable academic results. Three quarters of its pupils board in 19 boarding houses scattered across the 240-acre campus. It is one of the UK’s most successful boarding schools. Queen’s College Taunton is the oldest school in Taunton, a shining gem of a school offering an impressively rounded education where boarders are extremely well looked after and entertained. King’s College, also in Taunton, brims with enthusiasm for learning, and has great sports and extracurricular opportunities. It is predominantly a boarding school (over 65 per cent board) with boarders coming from all over the UK plus a good peppering of international students from 21 different countries.
Further west in Cornwall, at Truro School there are three boarding houses and a 50:50 split between UK and international students. Boarding is available from year 7 with some flexi-boarding options and plenty of activities to keep weekends busy and engaging. Truro High School for Girls offers two boarding houses, segregated by age with a strong international pull, they have pupils from 12 different nationalities, UK boarders predominantly from the Scilly Isles. Friday nights are famed for fun and weekend trips take full advantage of the outdoor and cultural adventures that Cornwall is famous for.
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.