The advantages of starting boarding in a prep school

Boarding is very much alive and kicking in IAPS member schools. Of the quarter of a million pupils who are educated in the 607 UK member schools, about 8 per cent are classified as boarders. However, 40 per cent of IAPS members offer some form of boarding. More than half of those who board are described as ‘flexible’ boarders and about 10 per cent are weekly boarders. The number of prep school boarders has largely returned to pre-pandemic numbers although as a result of the pandemic there has been a decline in schools that have traditionally recruited full-time boarders in significant numbers from mainland China.

What conclusion can we draw from all this? A very significant number of IAPS schools find their parents and prospective parents value the opportunity to take up the flexibility our schools have built into their offer. The lazy characterisation is that signing their child up for a few days of boarding every week releases parents to pursue social activities of their own choosing. There may be some occasions

Christopher King Chief Executive, Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS)

when this is true but the week by week, term by term drivers of this approach are rooted in something more solid.

IAPS schools are characterised, of course, by their holistic educational offer – a full-on, extended day stocked up with co-curricular activities. In order to access such activities it can make very good sense to stay on at school rather than have to travel home late in the day, fall into bed, only to get up again the next morning. When the daylight hours stretch out and sporting events run into the evening the ability to board allows pupils to fully engage with such events. Rehearsals, concerts, inter-school debates and House events can be scheduled for the evenings.

A night or two boarding can make accessing these things so much easier for the pupil and take the pressure off the family. The importance of taking pressure off the family is not to be underestimated. For all the talk about family-friendly policies, very often the hours parents are required to work are anything but friendly.

A Caring And Fun Experience

Boarding in IAPS schools is a caring and fun experience. No doubt regulatory changes have played their part in driving the improvements in boarding provision with regards to the physical environment. All our schools are very sensitive to the need for robust safeguarding procedures so each child is cared for in a safe and nurturing environment. However, as good as the pastoral care undoubtedly is in an IAPS school that offers boarding, it is probably the fact that it is seen as great fun by the children which is why they want to board. Indeed ‘fun’ is probably the most often cited reason for children to board in IAPS schools’ websites.

Boarding gives children the chance to fully immerse themselves in the life of the school, doing everything from night hikes to netball, cricket to campfires and all in the company of their friends. Joint experiences in the real, not the virtual, world, where they can share experiences which can be relived throughout their lives. What’s not to enjoy?

Christopher King is Chief Executive of IAPS.

Before that he was Headmaster and Chief Executive of Leicester Grammar School Trust. He was Chairman of the Headmaster’s and Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC) in 2015–16 and, unusually, again in 2017–18. Christopher is a Director of the Independent Schools Council (ISC) board and a member of Leicester University Council.