British Boarding Schools

British boarding schools are pre-university level schools where students reside inside the school grounds for as long as the school term is on session. Students only return home during the holidays and in some cases during the weekends. Normally, a British boarding school has three terms per year, with at least twelve weeks each and a few days in between for mid-term holidays where learners are expected to be away from the school and go home.  In addition, save for the international students, most boarding students are within travelling distance of their homes and can visit or get visits from their families often.

Mostly, the school dormitories are designed according to the age of the boarders, where after a certain time lights go out and students are not allowed to interact again, but sleep. Sometimes, it is hard enforcing such rules, but teachers and administration always manage to instill some sense of responsibility in the students. Several senior staffs, appointed as housemasters or mistresses, dorm prefects or parents are assigned parental responsibilities to a particular number of students.

Similarly, some boarding schools are exclusively for boarders, while others have both boarders and day scholars who go home at the end of the day. Such schools also either give students breakfast and sometimes dinner, at a fee or free of charge. For most of these boarding schools, they have designated study hours and learners are expected to observe silence and dedicate this time in their studies. During this period, watching TV or playing games is not allowed. Rather, students should stay in their rooms, go to the library, study hall and concentrate on their studies. Most British schools that accommodate both day and boarding scholars are sometimes referred as semi-boarding or day boarding schools. Moreover, some of the boarding schools have boarders who go home during the weekends, also known as weekly, five-day or quasi boarders.