Boarding Schools

A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. Boarding schools can offer full boarding where pupils only go home during school holidays or at weekends. Others offer weekly boarding where pupils go home at the end of the week returning on Sunday night or Monday morning whilst some of them also offer 'flexi boarding' meaning pupils can board on a 'need-to-board basis' usually once of twice a week or on an ad hoc basis.

A typical modern fee-charging boarding school has several separate residential houses, either within the school grounds or in the surrounding area. Pupils generally need permission to go outside defined school bounds; they may be allowed to travel off-campus at certain times.

A number of senior teaching staff are appointed as housemasters, housemistresses, dorm parents, or residential advisers, each of whom takes quasi-parental responsibility for perhaps 50 students resident in their house at all times but particularly outside school hours. Some boarding schools have only boarding students, while others have both boarding students and day students who go home at the end of the school day. Day students are sometimes known as day boys or day girls. Some schools welcome day students to attend breakfast and dinner, while others charge a nominal fee.

Boarding schools in the UK not only attract a large number of international pupils but also British nationals.