The Cost of Boarding Schools

When you’re considering sending your child to a boarding school, it’s hugely important that you take into consideration the cost of this kind of education. There are only a few state maintained boarding schools in the UK, and some offer free education supplemented by paid-for boarding. But note that it will be disruptive and upsetting for your child if your financial situation changes and you have to withdraw your child from their school, so be sure in advance that you will be able to cover the cost of boarding, which is often substantially more than day schools.

Average Fees

The cost of attending a boarding school will depend on the age of your child and will obviously also be impacted by where you decide to send your child, in terms of factors are varied as geography and location of the school, type of school, facilities, equipment and grounds, any special needs requirements, and so on. But to start to look into these costs, you can consider some average fees figures as provided by the Independent Schools Council (ISC). The ISC writes that for a primary school level of education, students attending day schools will have termly fees hitting an average of £2,640. Meanwhile, for day pupils attending a boarding school, this will go up to £3,231.

Parents of boarding school students should expect to pay more - the average termly fees here is £4,343. Senior school education, for children aged between 11 and 16, is higher than primary level. The average cost for day pupils will be £2,963 per term, while this increases to £4038 fees for parents to pay if their children are day pupils at a boarding school. At the higher end of the spectrum, parents with children in boarding at this level can expect to pay £6,678 a term.

The costs are higher still for sixth form education, for students aged between 16 and 18 years old. Here the ISC estimates that parents of day pupils at day schools will pay £3,002, but parents of pupils attending boarding schools only during the day will pay £4,443, while families of full-time boarding students will have to pay out the most - an average of £7,177 per term.

Other Expenses

Note that the fee burden doesn’t end with the total termly rate. Ask schools what kinds of extras are routinely added to fee bills so you can plan accordingly. These extras might add up to 10% to the school bill. They will often be impacted by the choice of extra-curricular activities that your child goes for - one to one instrument lessons, for example, will not usually be included in your bill. Likewise, lunches will usually cost extra, often about £3 per day, while school trips can add substantially to your average termly fees.

Ask if the school charges parents extra for the cost of text books and examination entries. Check out the cost of school uniforms, if appropriate too. If a school has a particular “recommended supplier” this can be an expensive outlay.

Plan Ahead

Be aware that most schools will ask parents to provide fees in advance of the school term, or sometimes the school year, and will ask for a full term’s notice if they intend to take a child out of the register. School should give advance notice for rises in fees, but it can be helpful to ask whether any increases are planned. Be aware too that there is help available to cover these fees, such as bursaries and scholarships, so look into these options while you are considering whether boarding school is a viable and desirable option for you and your family.