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The King's School Canterbury has the most varied and interesting boarding houses, they’re dotted around Canterbury both within the cathedral precincts and outside. To engage with the full breadth of offerings and experience here, many more local students opt to board along with children from across the globe and UK (three-quarters of pupils board). St Lawrence College prides its boarding provision on being ‘central to the school’s life’ and has a very distinct and appropriate provision for prep to senior. Younger pupils sometimes have a transition boarding space (St Edmund's School and Dover College) before they become immersed in a house boarding culture. Kent College has six well-appointed boarding houses for 204 boarders (only six prep).
Prep boarding is offered in Northbourne Park School, pupils often calling it ‘home’, and The Junior King’s School where there’s so much going on pupils return home for a rest, parents say. Boarding at both is in single sex, beautifully appointed boarding houses whereas Wellesley House’s traditional red brick ‘integral to school life’ Boddington House is co-ed with separate wings for boys and girls, sharing communal areas and kitchen. Weekly boarding popular - often to complement families’ lifestyles, pupil’s extra-curricular commitments, and in preparation for full boarding in senior school.
Due to the easy access for exeats and school events via the High Speed, families are most likely to send their children to the notable boarding schools in or near London: Harrow School, Westminster School, Eton College. There’s fluidity between boarding schools in East and West Kent: Benenden School and Kent College, Pembury (both all girls) are popular, as is co-ed Sutton Valence. Some prep children venture to Saint Ronan's and Dulwich Prep Cranbrook. For specialist provision in sport some might go as far as Millfield School in Somerset or even Sedbergh School in Cumbria, but generally families find that there are appropriate and pleasing options in East Kent. Those most likely to go ‘out of county’ do so for familial connections with a school or if their child has been awarded a scholarship or bursary.
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.