Many people assume incorrectly that boarding is the prerogative of the Independent Sector, and is absent from the Maintained Sector where tuition costs are the responsibility of the government. There is, however, a flourishing group of 35 boarding schools within the state maintained sector accounting for up to some 5,000 of about 72,000 places currently taken up in boarding schools. The schools have been described as a jewel in state education's crown, and certainly one of its best kept secrets as a glance at the current league tables will reveal.


Maintained schools share many characteristics with their Independent counterparts. The longer day and week allows a greater emphasis on evening and weekend activities and an all round education, as well as a framework for supervised preparation, together with greater availability of staff for academic, cultural and pastoral support and guidance. In both boarding provides continuity for children whose parents’ work involves frequent changes of location, or where parents work long hours and helps children to develop confidence and independence.


The majority of differences, in fact, between an independent day and boarding school and the maintained school equivalent are minimal, and have to be discovered by studying individual prospectuses, and visiting schools to see for yourself, and to ask key questions on the aspects of education, which are of major concern to you. The one significant difference, though, is that maintained boarding is less expensive, and so a more attractive and affordable option, because the education element (tuition and all that goes with it) is covered by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), through its agents, either the Local Education Authority or the Funding Agency. So the parents only have to find the costs of boarding, currently ranging from about £1,400 to £3,150 a term. The sons and daughters of UK and other European Union nationals, together with any others with the right of residence in the UK, are eligible to any of the schools. By comparison the boarding fee element alone in the majority of Independent Schools will be larger for a variety of reasons of which one will almost certainly be staff costs and, in particular, the staff-student ratio.


All maintained boarding schools have a mix of day and boarding, and about two thirds are co-educational, and the vast majority from 11 to 18. There are a small number of single sex schools, and also two Sixth Form Colleges. Sixth form boarding is an attractive option by way of preparation for University and Higher Education, and all the equal opportunities of the wide world, as well as all the complications life can present from the age of 16+ onwards. Boarders gain confidence, independence, have more chances to accept responsibility, learn to co-operate with others, and acquire many of the other qualities needed in working and student life.


Weekly boarding is being increasingly offered as a flexible option, which is particularly appealing to working parents, who value having their children home for the weekends, but who live a hectic lifestyle midweek, often involving lengthy daily travel and irregular hours.


In some ways, therefore, maintained schools can offer a more realistic mix in their communities, with boarders enjoying the best of both worlds - an established circle of peers and friends in their boarding house, and the chance to integrate more with local pupils, particularly socially, over the weekends. In this respect much depends on the school's catchment area, and, as has been the case in the Independent sector as well, many schools have offered weekly and flexible boarding in order to keep boarding numbers up, and to compensate for the drop in demand from within the UK and the decline in Service boarding.


The Parents’ Guide to Maintained Boarding Schools, obtainable free of charge from the Department for Children, Schools and Families Publications Centre, PO Box 6927, London E3 3NZ or from the National Director, the Boarding Schools' Association, Grosvenor Gardens House, 35-37 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W 0BS lists the schools. The 11-18 schools vary in overall size from about 1,400 to just under 500, and in five of them – Brymore School, Devon (13-17), Wymondham College, Norfolk (11-18), Sexey's School, Bruton, Somerset (11-16), the Royal Alexandra and Albert School, Reigate, Surrey (7-18), and Old Swinford, Stourbridge, Worcestershire (11-18) - there are more boarders than day pupils. A sixth the Duke of York’s Royal Military School is MoD funded, but classified as independent and entirely boarding.


Many of the maintained boarding schools have become self-governing Grant Maintained Schools, with the possibility of considering the feasibility of opening boarding houses on their own initiatives, and recognising that families may be far more mobile in the future, so leading to a revival in the demand for boarding. Similarly as independent schools are becoming more international as they meet an increasing demand for places from overseas, particularly from within the European Union, Eastern Europe, and the Far East, so, too, the maintained schools can accept pupils from any EU country, and can do so, with costs recovered at Government level.


Finally, as has already been mentioned, among the maintained boarding schools are two sixth form colleges for pupils aged 16 to 19. They are the MoD funded Welbeck College, which supplies the Armed Forces and the Civil Service with engineering and science graduates, and Peter Symond's Sixth Form College, Winchester, Hampshire, who can admit pupils from outside the European Union though, as with overseas tertiary students, they will be charged higher fees.


As in the independent sector pupils can only benefit by schools opening their doors wider, and strengthening their position in order to promote greater international awareness and understanding.

BOARDING IN THE STATE SECTOR
– Melvyn Roffe, Principal of Wymondham College

 
I often find that to people for whom the term “boarding school” is synonymous with “independent school” it comes as a surprise, or even a shock, to learn that there are thirty three boarding schools maintained by Local Authorities in England and Wales. Amongst these are many of the very best state schools in the country with academic results that bear comparison with equivalent schools in the independent sector and wide ranging programmes of extra curricular activities to develop pupils’ interests, skills and character.


Equally surprising can be the news that all but two of these schools welcome boarding applications from anyone with full UK or other EU citizenship – there are no other qualifications for admission. But the real shock to the uninitiated comes when looking at these schools’ fee tables. Even the most expensive of the state boarding schools charges less than £4,000 per term for full boarding and most charge much less than that. How do we do it? Well, as state schools we are only charging parents for the routine costs of boarding accommodation and staffing. All education costs are paid for by the local authority. We can therefore offer a traditional boarding school education for much less than our colleagues in the independent sector.


Is there a catch? Not really. Certainly, if you count the number of pupils in the average class at a state boarding school, you would probably find more than in many, but by no means all, independent schools. The schools may have fewer flashy new swimming pools and theatres, but recent Government investment means that some of the best boarding accommodation in the country will soon be found in state boarding schools. The only real catch is that demand for places usually outstrips supply. However, from September 2008 all state boarding schools will be giving priority for boarding places to children with boarding need – and in most cases that will include children from service families. The opportunity to benefit from boarding in state boarding schools is therefore greater than ever.


Because they are unusual, each of the state boarding schools has a distinctive ethos, and many have close links with the armed forces. Gordon’s School in Surrey, for example, was established as the national memorial to General Gordon of Khartoum and, in addition to a strong Combined Cadet Force, boasts a full pipe band which parades annually in tribute to the General. Wymondham College not only enjoys links with the British armed forces, but also with the United States Air Force, a relationship which dates from the Second World War when the College site was a large USAAF hospital.


Meanwhile, in the South West, the pupils of Brymore School have a unique focus on rural skills, tending the school’s own organic farm. If you have tried Yeo Valley yogurts, you will have sampled some of Brymore’s produce. In a contrasting urban setting, Old Swinford Hospital in Stourbridge was an original “blue coat” school with an unbroken heritage stretching back to the philanthropy of a seventeenth century iron master. Hockerill College in Hertfordshire is a leading provider of the International Baccalaureate, teaching many of its classes in French or German and numbering the German Ambassador to the Court of St. James amongst its governors. Even better connected, the Royal Alexandria and Albert School in Surrey was created by Act of Parliament from the merger of two royal orphanages. It enjoys the personal patronage of the Queen, whom, it is rumoured, sends a cheque to support the school’s activities every year.


It is no exaggeration to claim that the state boarding schools can offer something for children of all types, interests and abilities. We are a full part of the state education sector in England and Wales but our distinctive role – which has always included the education of service children – and our commitment to providing the best possible boarding education also sets us apart as a family of highly successful – and somewhat unusual – schools.


More information on state boarding schools can be found at www.sbsa.org.uk
Inspection reports on individual schools can be found at www.ofsted,gov.uk

Melvyn Roffe became Principal of Wymondham College, the country’s largest state boarding school in
September 2007 after six years as Headmaster of Old Swinford Hospital another state boarding school. Initially he taught at Oundle School before becoming Head of English and then Director of Studies at Monmouth School. He has been an inspector with the Independent Schools Inspectorate, and was Chairman of the State Boarding Schools Association (formerly STABIS) in 2004 and 2005. He is currently Vice Chairman of the Boarding Schools Association.