Best Boarding Schools specialises in providing a personal service to help your family choose a boarding school. We offer impartial advice as our only concern is to ensure that we find the schools that best suit the needs of your child. Our approach means that we can consider and work with any of the more than 1000 top boarding schools in the UK, Europe, North America and the Rest of the World.
Our web-site provides a substantial amount of free information on choosing a school and details of individual top boarding schools, however we recognise that many families find the enormous range of choices challenging and daunting and look for us to provide them with impartial advice and navigate the process of making the right decision.
HOW THE BBS ADMISSIONS PROCESS WORKS
You can make your initial enquiry either by email, telephone, website enquiry form
When we receive your enquiry, one of our Educational Advisors will contact you to learn as much as possible about your child’s profile (nationality, name, gender, date of birth) and family background, their academic ability, strengths and weaknesses, level of English and their interests such as sport, music or drama. You will also be asked about own details and your priorities and aspirations for the type of school you are seeking. This will include the level of fees you are looking to invest. Our Educational Advisor will also discuss curriculum options to establish which is best for your child and
After the initial consultation we will ask you to complete our Best Boarding Schools Application Form and arrange for your child’s current school to provide the following supporting documents directly to us through our e-mail address
In addition, you should provide details of any medical conditions that could affect your son’s / daughter’s studies.
We will also ask for detailed information about your child’s language proficiency
Completion of our Application Form provides us with full details of your child. We will use this will to complete the assessment of your child’s needs and prepare an initial shortlist of schools for your consideration.
Our Education Advisor will contact you if any further information or clarification is needed at this stage.
After our assessment of the information you have provided our Educational Advisor will contact a selection of appropriate schools and provide you with a list (between 3 and 8 in number) of schools that are most suitable for you and have available places. Your Educational Advisor will provide you with information about the schools we are recommending.
At your request, we will also arrange for you to be sent the school Prospectuses and Brochures.
Once you have had time to review the list of recommended schools, your Educational Advisor will arrange to hold an in-depth discussion with you. The objective of this discussion will be to review the list of recommended schools with you, establish your preferences and conclude a clear plan to make sure that the required preparations are identified and put in hand.
At this stage your Educational Advisor will also discuss the need to arrange any learning support programmes where English language ability is too low or another special learning need has been identified.
Your Educational Advisor will make arrangements for your family to visit the schools you have chosen (we suggest no more than xx) in order that you can make a final selection before registering for admission. Your Educational Advisor will make the appointments with schools, assist with any travel and accommodation arrangements. They will also be pleased to accompany your family on their school visits
Once you have selected your preferred schools, you will be required to complete a school Application or Registration Form. You will be advised of the school’s entry requirements for your chosen schools and also be asked to pay an international student registration fee (between £100 and £1000) directly to each school. You will also be asked to sign a parent-school contract.
Throughout the application process your Educational Advisor will act as a liaison between your family and the school. Your Educational Advisor can arrange for the schools to send you all required Application or Registration documents and provide any assistance you require with their completion and submission at the correct times.
Most top UK boarding schools will require applicants to pass entrance tests as well as be interviewed in order to be admitted.
Your Educational Advisor will explain to you the admissions process to your preferred schools. If it is not possible for an applicant to be in the UK to complete the entrance exam or interview, your Educational Advisor will assist in making special arrangements with the schools to send exam papers to an approved examination centre (e.g. British Council Offices and approved overseas schools) in the applicant’s home country and also assist to arranging a Skype interview.
Where a need is identified, your Educational Advisor can arrange for additional private tuition for an entrance exam and interview coaching for an additional cost.
Once your family has received an offer from a preferred school, your Educational Advisor will continue to help you with understanding the school contracts, terms and conditions, deposit and fee payment schedules and any additional joining requirements.
In the case of more than one offer being received your Educational Advisor will be available to discuss your thoughts and impressions with you and offer further advice and guidance to help with your final selection.
Once the family has made the big decision and accepted an offer from a school your Educational Advisor is able to provide you with the following support.
Once your child has started at the school, continue to be available to you to contact the school on your behalf if you have any concerns.