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In town, the majority of boys at Summer Fields board, with boys coming from London and overseas. Locals use ‘day boarding’ (regular nights) or ad hoc flexi-boarding at The Dragon to avoid the traffic; weekly or full boarders come from further afield. Saturday school at Summer Fields and The Dragon make them good choices for full boarders. Christ Church Cathedral School offers flexi-boarding to day boys; all choristers full board.
At senior level, most offer full and weekly boarding. Burford School is unusual in being a state boarding school: prospective boarders interviewed to assess suitability; priority to forces families. Apply early because places are in hot demand. Boarding kicks in at both Sibford School and Tudor Hall from year 7, though at the latter girls are full boarders with no weekly option. In nearby Bucks, Stowe School picks up lots at 13+ from Winchester House, Beachborough, The Dragon and Kitebrook. Kingham Hill attracts international boarders (due in part to offering the US curriculum) from 11+.
Of the city senior schools, Headington School (soon to be Headington Rye Oxford) and Wychwood School are the only ones that offer boarding to girls from 11+. St Edward’s is increasingly hard to get into – families from London and the home counties are keen as mustard for the new regime. The majority at St Clare’s board, from year 12; mainly from overseas. d’Overbroeck’s offers unstuffy boarding for sixth formers, now with more beds for year 13s (who have hitherto lived with host families).
Bruern Abbey and Swalcliffe Park take boys as boarders, offering safe, stimulating, loving environments for those with additional needs. Kingham Hill and Bloxham School offer a mainstream boarding setting with a limited number of places for students experiencing specific learning difficulties.
Families look towards the Midlands and across the south and south-west for further boarding schools. Read our guide to South Oxfordshire for the low-down on those options, including Radley College, Abingdon School, St Hugh’s School and Cothill House. Girls may go to Cheltenham Ladies College, Downe House or Wycombe Abbey; their brothers to Eton College, Winchester College or Harrow School. Wellington College, Marlborough College and Bradfield College are the co-eds that Oxfordshire families will travel for, offering bells and whistles and a hot social scene. Those avoiding the London sphere of influence may look to Cheltenham College, Rugby School or Oundle School.
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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.