Can’t afford fees at your London day school any longer? Well, have you thought about sending your child to boarding school? “What?” You ask. “Are you a complete moron, Snowdon? That’s like saying ‘Let them eat cake’ when they can’t afford bread!” Hear me out, folks… Sometimes, solutions aren’t always intuitive.
The average London day school costs approximately £10,000 per year in fees with uniform, lunches, clubs and other add-ons often extra. There are some examples where a boarding education could come in under this amount. If you live in an LEA with good local schools, you may just want to explore those options (but then again, if that were the case, you probably would have sent your child to that good local school in the first place, wouldn’t you have?) If, however, you don’t have that kind of good fortune, there are boarding options which will bring you in under the mark that you’re currently paying. Plus, as I mentioned in yesterday’s post on state boarding schools (which come in at around £10,000 per annum), there may be further hidden savings in that your child won’t be eating at home, making the water meter spin, or using toilet paper for that matter.
Here are a few of the options I’ve come across over the years:
- Christ’s Hospital School in Horsham, West Sussex is an all-boarding school for 11-18 year olds. I’ve heard it said that it is among the richest schools in the country, which I guess it needs to be when you consider that most of its students are on some level of bursary; only 4% of parents pay the full fees. You may have seen them in their curious uniforms on television, and every year their band leads the Lord Mayor of London’s parade. It is now too late to apply for admission for Year 7 in September 2009, but if your child is currently in Year 5, you may want to consider thinking ahead about this gem of a school for Year 7 in September 2010. Those applying for admission to the Sixth Form have until Monday 3 November to get their applications in. Although the school does not advertise it, applications are considered for other years, but there is usually a waiting list. Fees are determined on a sliding scale, but as a guideline, a family with an income of £30,000 per year can expect to pay approximately £4,000 for a year’s tuition and boarding. It’s worth checking out: www.christs-hospital.org.uk/allaboutmoney2007-08.pdf
- Welbeck — The Defence Sixth Form College in Leicestershire is a sixth form boarding school for medically fit UK, Commonwealth (hmm…I should let my Canadian friends know) or Irish citizens. It really is for those who’d like to pursue a career in the Forces; I’m not really sure what happens if you change your mind mid-course. Since 2005, the school has been sited at a new, state-of-the-art campus in Leicestershire. Its focus on the sciences is not for those who are not strong in this area. As with Christ’s Hospital, parents make a contribution, but it’s on a sliding scale. Children from families with incomes under £17,000 per year get a free ride, while a family income of £100,000 will mean annual fees (tuition and boarding) of just over £6,000. For more information, including application deadlines, check out: www.welbeck.mod.uk
- United World Colleges are part of a global education movement founded in the 1950’s based on the ideas of Kurt Hahn, a German Jew who founded Salem, a school in Germany, and later, when the Nazis rose to power, Gordounston. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme and the Outward Bound movement. The first United World College, Atlantic College in Wales, was founded in 1962. The United World Colleges are rooted in the philosophy that conflict and hostility can be overcome if young people of different races, nationalities and religions can be brought together to learn from each other. There are now 12 such colleges around the world and all offer the International Baccalaureate diploma programme. Admission is based on merit, and there is a generous scholarship programme which dishes out money on a combined basis of merit and need (bearing in mind that dummies don’t make it in in the first place.) Interested pupils must apply through the UK arm and are assigned to one of the 11 schools outside the UK or to Atlantic College. The deadline for applications is in February. I had friends who attended United World Colleges back in the 1980’s. They were very much the Guardian-reading, furry armpitted, Birkenstock-wearing, panpipe-music playing, Students-Against-Global-Nuclear-Extermination type (you get the idea…) that I didn’t have much in common with back then. I also did not think much of the IB back then. Now, however, I’m a big proponent of the IB (well, you don’t have much choice when faced with A-Level inflation) and, having lived in three countries and travelled even more extensively for business and pleasure, I regret not applying myself and forced my younger stepson to apply a few years ago. For a well-rounded, socially conscious, academically strong pupil, I highly recommend applying. Check it out: www.uwc.org.uk
- The Duke of York’s Royal Military School in Dover provides an education for the children (11-18) of military personnel. Fees per year range from £1,650 for those with parents serving, to £3,900 per year for those whose parents leave the services during the child’s stay at the school, to £7,500 per year for those whose parents were no longer serving on entry. I actually don’t know much about this school and would welcome feedback from those with children there. Check it out: http://www.army.mod.uk/welfare-support/education/1161.aspx
That’s it for today. I’ve got a few more ideas up my sleeve which I’ll share with you in the coming days.
Snowdon on Schools 