British School of your Dream
Many of our clients tell us they are seeking
- A famous public school
- A heritage school
- A school with a long historical background
- A school where their child can experience the best of British culture
These descriptions tend to distil into the definition of a centuries old private school in historic buildings with a globally recognised name and there are quite a number of those.
Thanks to J K Rowling and Warner Brothers, some would even like their target school to resemble Hogwarts Castle!
Anyway let’s start with the phrase “Public School”. Perversely this is very little different to Private School or Independent School. They are all private schools for which parents have to pay fees for tuition and / or boarding as opposed to State Schools which are free to UK residents. The subtle difference about Public Schools is that they were mostly established 200 to 500 years ago. Ironically they were originally for boys only and catered for poor scholars, whereas many are now co-ed and can only be afforded by very affluent parents. The sector was reformed in the mid 1800s and 7 boarding schools were legally defined as Public – Charterhouse, Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Shrewsbury, Westminster and Winchester (boarding schools) added to by 2 day schools – St Pauls and Merchant Taylors. Over the ensuing years many other schools have called themselves Public Schools, without there being a definition any more except they tend to be perceived to be older schools in impressive palatial premises and charging very expensive fees. The nearest definition now is a school which is a member of The Headmasters Conference. There are about 200, mostly boarding and covering the ages 13 to 18.
Anyway back to the description in that many parents basically want a traditional well known boarding school with a long history in a large impressive campus. Exam success does not always go hand in hand with this description but such schools are generally in the top 2 quartiles of our league tables. We can usually satisfy parents’ requirements, but again it is wise to leave sufficient time to make an application because many heritage schools set registration deadlines several years in advance of entry.