This is the most frequently asked question when I hop on complimentary video calls with new parent clients who are seeking to find out more about our education consultancy services.
Investing in quality and experienced education consultancy advice ensures parents feel both reassured and empowered to make the right decision about future schools. Our approach, when we start consulting with a new family, is a simple one. It’s aimed at bringing definition to what can often be a chaotic and confusing process prior to meeting us. Starting with names of schools is to begin at the wrong end of the boarding school choice process. First you must agree what you are looking for.
We do this by discussing all the factors which influence a boarding school choice decision for each child as an individual, and hence agree a strategic plan for your school search, which places your child at the heart of the boarding school decision-making process.
After all, choosing the best boarding school for your child should always be about your child, and not about you, the parents. Sounds obvious, but how many times have you heard other parents say around the supper party table, ‘over my dead body will they board as I had such an awful experience myself’ or, ‘their best friend is going to this school, so let’s look at that one’ or ‘three generations of this family have attended that school, so it’s the only school option for us’ or ‘what do you think of this school and that school, as I have read about them on Mumsnet?’
Here are just a few of questions we discuss when we begin our consultancy work with parents. It’s amazing how many parents haven’t talked these things through, prior to meeting our education consultancy team.
1. What are both parents thoughts about boarding school? How can we ensure you start the boarding school choice process on the same page about what you are looking for? We are good listeners and invest time getting to know you and understanding all your worries as a parent, about getting this school choice right.
2. What’s the right UK school year to begin boarding school? Are you seeking to start boarding at a prep school at age 8, or to choose a top boarding school via ISEB pre-test at age 13, or do you feel waiting for your child to board in sixth form, at age 16, is the right choice for your child? Deciding at what age your child should join a boarding school, and hence when you need to start the school choice process is crucial.
3. How academic is your child, when compared with their peers in British boarding schools? You’ll be keen to choose a boarding school where they’ll be challenged to achieve the best academic outcomes for them, without feeling like they are struggling and hanging on by their fingertips. Our academic evaluation ensures you get this level right.
4. What are their passions, ambitions for the future and interests to nurture? There might be existing talents in sports, music, arts, languages, or sciences. There might also be new things which they have never tried before and are keen to learn. Boarding schools are about exploring new opportunities to be inspired and to shine.
5. What’s their personality and character like, and hence what boarding school environment will feel right for them? Do they thrive on competition and independence, or do they require more nurture and encouragement. Being a big fish in a little pond can achieve more for some children than a large lake.
6. Does your child have neurodiverse or other specific needs which will require specialist support? Choosing the best boarding school for them will be all about ensuring the school has the right support, expertise and experience to ensure they will be happy and thrive.
7. What other factors are important? Location close to family, an airport, countryside or town? Co-ed or single sex? What type of boarding will suit your child best? Specific subjects in sixth form and IB or A level?
Choosing the best boarding school can be a hugely daunting decision to make without an independent sounding board with whom you can discuss your thoughts, worries, as well as the inevitable opinions you will receive from close friends, relatives, and other families who are all keen to share their own experiences.
From my experience of hundreds of conversations with families, both in the UK, and all around the world over the past 20 years as an education consultant, whilst the children are all different, the worries of parents are largely the same.
If you find you're confused or going round around in circles unable to feel confident you have found or applying to the right boarding school for your child, engaging professional education consultancy services will help.
Final Thoughts
If this piece on UK Boarding Schools has made you think considering British boarding schools could be the right option for your child, we offer a complimentary call for all families so we can explore this discussion further on an individual family basis. During the call we will ask you about your child, and your ambitions for their education. Then, we discuss how we are best to help you navigate the often-confusing waters of choosing, applying and securing an offer of a place to join the best British boarding school for your child and family.
Get in touch with us to find out more.
Thank you to Strathallan School for making us so welcome on our recent visit with Doris, the TIEC Land Rover Defender. Click here to see our interview with the headmaster and our independent school review.