Alternative to Private boarding schools....

[Andrew Cox]

More and more, overseas students are looking at alternatives to the high pressure, high cost private education sector when looking to study abroad. In the UK, there is now a real, high quality and extremely good value for money alternative to the established private boarding school option: The 6th Form College.

International students at sixth-form colleges in the UK stay with host families for the duration of their time in the UK, before heading off to university or continuing their education elsewhere. They enjoy all the benefits that home students receive, and pay a fraction of the costs of private education. 

The number of International students tends to be small in comparison to local UK students, making integration with UK friends much easier, while class sizes, course options and teacher support in most cases matches everything that a private school can offer.

Colleges such as Alton College, in Hampshire, regularly achieve excellent results, and have sent Chinese students to universities in Oxford, Aberdeen and London to name but three. 

With tuition fees of only a third of what most private schools charge, and extremely reasonable home-stay fees where students live in the heart of a local family, this is an option worth considering for any 16-18 year old student looking to study A levels in the UK.