Most children are day pupils who attend schools in the independent sector. These students more often than not come from a wider area than day state school students. Sometimes the children live 15 or 20 miles away. If you think days school is the best option for your child then you should take into consideration travelling distances from your home. Take into consideration the bus and rail links to the schools and check with the school if they run their own service as many do. If not, the travel may be able to be split between parents who reside in the same area.

The benefits of a boarding school education however may want to be considered. You have a much large range of schools from which to choice and you can avoid the issue of daily travel. Boarding schools are not the right choice for all children but most find the experience enjoyable and are excited by the prospect of being away from home during term time. Many children have a mixture of day and boarding experience – often in the same school.

Options that have become increasingly popular over the years are flexible or weekly boarding. Students head home each weekend and this is usually very practical for parents who both work full time.When both parents are tied down by a full time job. Private prep school often helps to free up restrications on time. ‘quality time’ spent with the kids could can actually be improved through this method as parents are free at the end of a busy working week. A large proportion of parents send their children to boarding schools that are close to the family home. Or, if the parents are often out of the country or moved around a lot in their work, they tend to pick schools near family or friends.

To help you make the decision of which boarding school is the right one, make a list of suitable ones and write down the pros and cons for each one. The majority of boarding schools accept day pupils also. Your child could begin their school experience in a day capacity but change to boarding should they want to later. Many day children, particularly in preparatory schools, take the opportunity to be occasional boarders for a few nights a year. Boarding schools have lots of options and flexibitly so chances are you will find one that is right for you