Considering Boarding School?
Where To Find Advice
Parents sometimes contact me for advice about choosing boarding schools.
Although I try to help when I can, most of my knowledge is focused on exam preparation and interviews, rather than on what happens later. When it comes to understanding schools’ strengths and weaknesses, what sort of children each one best serves and where the most affordable options are, my experience is patchy.
If you are looking for somebody with real expertise in this area, you will be best served by a full-time educational consultant who takes a special interest in boarding schools.
For many parents, however, this doesn’t seem like a realistic option. They imagine that a schools consultant will be expensive and exclusive – a luxury for pop stars and aristocrats.
Indeed, it is true that some educational consultants are pricey, and I have often been reluctant to recommend them for this reason. However, this does not have to be the case.
I have been in contact for several months with Which Boarding School, founded in 2004 by William Wilcox, a former headmaster and school chairman, and I have been consistently impressed by the friendly and knowledgeable WBS team.
They are happy to talk to parents at all stages of the admissions process – including people who have only the vaguest idea of sending their child to boarding school, and no sense of what this might involve.
An important feature of Which Boarding School’s business model is that they offer a completely free service to parents, from beginning to end.
They make their money from schools, who pay them commission when a child is placed – although they are keen to emphasise their impartiality and their focus on the child’s needs, rather than the school’s.
This means that I have no reservations in recommending them to RSL Educational customers.
If you are considering whether a boarding school education might be suitable for your child, I strongly recommend that you give them a call (their number is +44 (0) 1702 588225). Nieves Vara González from Which Boarding School has also joined the Independent Schools Facebook group that I run, in order to offer advice to parents. Feel free to @ her in any boarding-related questions: I know she will be glad to help.
It is worth making clear that I have not been paid for this post. We both feel that our services are naturally compatible, so in the same way that I am glad to recommend Which Boarding School here, they have been recommending RSL Educational products to some of their customers.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment below! (Tick the “Receive email updates” box to receive a message when I reply).
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