Independent · public-record data
Compare UK Boarding Schools Side-by-Side—Beyond the Prospectus
Get independent, public-record data on school costs, financial stability, VAT impact, bursary generosity and full inspection findings before making a £150,000+ commitment.
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What Google Won’t Tell You About UK Boarding-School Costs
How much does boarding school cost?
We break down published fees alongside actual spending per pupil, hidden extras, and real historical fee trends over six years.
How will VAT affect fees?
We track school reserves, debt and public filings to show which schools can absorb tax changes — and which are forced to hike tuition.
Which is the “best” boarding school?
Real quality needs financial stability. Compare up to three schools side-by-side on financial health, bursary funding and full inspector findings.
Independent Data Drawn Directly From Public Records
Every school shows you their new sports hall. We show you what’s happening behind the financial curtain.
Financial health check
Is the school financially stable, or are its reserves running thin?
Bursary transparency
See how generous a school’s bursaries actually are, compared with its peers.
Inspection realities
Unfiltered findings from ISI, Ofsted and Education Scotland — not just the headline grade.
Reinvestment rates
Discover whether a school is actively upgrading its facilities or falling behind.
See What a Side-by-Side Comparison Looks Like
This is a complete sample report — real, anonymised independent-school data straight from official public filings. Every comparison you run looks like this.
At a glance
| Metric | School A | School B | School C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Country | England | England | England |
Pupil roll | |||
| Roll (latest)Headcount on roll, from the DfE School Census (latest available year). Hover a figure for its census year. | 492 | 528 | 433 |
| Roll (12-month) | -0.8% | +3.5% | -15.6% |
| Roll (5-year) | -3.7% | -3.1% | -21.4% |
| Inspection & safeguarding | |||
| Latest inspectionA colour summarising the school's most recent inspection outcome. Different inspectorates (ISI, Ofsted, and the Scottish and Welsh bodies) use different systems, so results from different inspectorates aren't directly comparable. | Green· ISI | Green· ISI | Green· ISI |
| SafeguardingA prominent note that an inspection identified a safeguarding or child-protection concern. Always shown, never hidden. | No concerns raised | No concerns raised | No concerns raised |
| Financial position | |||
| ResilienceA simple green, amber or red rating summarising how financially secure a school looks, based on its published accounts. Green is reassuring; red suggests taking a closer look. It's an indicator, not a verdict. | ModerateFinancial-health flag: Red — triggered by: Deficit in 3 consecutive years. Balance-sheet strength and operating result are shown separately, so a deficit funded by a strong balance sheet need not mean distress. An indicator from filed accounts, not a verdict. | StrongFinancial-health flag: Green — no stress indicators triggered in the latest filed accounts (reserves cover, income trend, and no run of deficits are all within range). | ModerateFinancial-health flag: Green — no stress indicators triggered in the latest filed accounts (reserves cover, income trend, and no run of deficits are all within range). |
| Operating result | Deficit · 3 yrs | Surplus | Deficit |
| Reserves (months)How many months the school could keep running on its savings if its income stopped. More months means a larger safety net. | 8.9 mo | 16.3 mo | 6.2 mo |
| Financial stressHow financially stretched a school looks next to similar schools — based on its reserves, whether it runs a surplus or deficit, its income trend and how much it relies on fees. The figure is the share of comparable schools that look more stretched than this one, so a higher number is healthier. It's a relative measure, not a verdict on a school's finances. | more stressed than 94% | more stressed than 34% | more stressed than 72% |
| Fee dependencyHow much the school relies on fees versus other income. A school funded almost entirely by fees has less of a cushion if pupil numbers fall. | 97% | 93% | 95% |
| Operating surplusHow much the school makes or loses from its core job of running the school, before donations, lettings or investments. The clearest measure of whether the school itself pays its way. | -16.0% | -2.6% | -5.4% |
| Fees (annual, published) | |||
| Senior · day | £29,385 | £29,550 | £27,099 |
| Senior · boarding | £50,901 | £46,350 | £51,561 |
| Sixth Form · boarding | £50,901 | £48,750 | £51,561 |
| Fee history (six-year) | |||
| Then → now | £40,806 → £50,901 | £31,950 → £47,970 | £33,078 → £51,561 |
| Six-year change | +24.7% | +50.1% | +55.9% |
| Spending | |||
| Spend per pupilTotal school spending divided by the number of pupils — a rough measure of how much is invested in each child. | £24k | £23k | £22k |
| Staff (% of spend)How much of the school's fee income goes on staff pay — the largest cost for most schools. | 67% | 68% | 68% |
| Reinvestment (capex : dep)How much a school spends on improving its buildings and facilities relative to its fee income — a sign of whether it's investing in its future. | 0.0× | 0.7× | 0.5× |
| Bursary supportHow much of its fee income a school gives back as means-tested bursary support, compared with other schools. | 4.1% | 12.3% | 15.6% |
| Scale & trend | |||
| Latest income | £10.3m | £11.8m | £11.3m |
| Income trend (3yr)Whether the school's income has been growing or shrinking over recent years, shown as an average yearly change. | +1.3% | +7.6% | +9.7% |
Bold = best in this set for that measure. Fees are the published (advertised) figures — not highlighted, since cheaper isn't better. Source: Charity Commission / OSCR, the inspectorates, and each school's fee page.
Exam results over time
Comparable published metrics, one bar per school each year, with the national figure as a dashed reference line. Value-added is a school-reported claim on different methodologies, so it is shown per school, not compared here.
GCSE 9-7
GCSE 9-4
A-level A*-A
A-level A*-B
A-level pass rate
IB average score
A-level average points
A-level A*
GCSE pass rate
IB pass rate
Subjects
What each school offers, by stage — the subjects on the timetable, not exam performance or uptake. Compared only among the schools that run each stage; highlighted subjects are offered at one but not the others.
Years 7–9
The same subjects across these schools at this stage.
GCSE· 9 in common
BTEC / vocational
A-level· 20 in common
International Baccalaureate
Not compared — subjects at this stage aren’t captured for School A, School B.
Co-curricular activities
What each school lists that the others don't, matched on a shared activity taxonomy. Drawn from each school's website — a reflection of what they publish, not a measure of provision, and never a score.
Only at one school
School A
School B
School C
Offered by all 3
Leavers' destinations
Each school defines and publishes these differently, so they are shown side by side as each school reports them — not scored or ranked.
School A
- 2025 · 2025 university destinations include Cambridge, Imperial College London, UCL, Manchester, Leeds, Falmouth
- 2025 · Destinations: 92% secured first-choice university places
School B
- 2025 · 2025 outcomes: 35% Russell Group applicant outcome
- 2024 · 2024 selective US destinations include Nottingham, Cornell
School C
- 2025 · 2025 university destinations include Oxford, King's College London, Exeter
- 2023 · 2023 destinations: 97% of university applicants gained firm or insurance choices
Real, de-identified schools from the public record. Notice one school’s slower fee rise comes with far thinner reserves.
Boarding-School Costs: Common Questions
- How much does a UK boarding school cost?
- Across the 268 schools in our data that publish a senior boarding fee, the median is £50,900 a year, and the middle half charge between £44,600 and £56,500. These are published annual fees; extras such as music lessons, trips and uniform are usually charged on top. Each school's profile shows its own published fees with a link to the school's fee page.
- How much have boarding fees risen?
- Across the 343 schools where we hold a six-year boarding fee history, the median rise is 44%. Rises vary widely from school to school, so we show each school's own year-by-year fee history, including the step when VAT was added to fees in January 2025.
- How can I tell whether a boarding school is financially stable?
- Most independent schools are charities and file accounts with the Charity Commission or the Scottish regulator, OSCR. From those filings we show how many months of spending a school holds in reserves, whether it runs an operating surplus or deficit, and how its income has moved over recent years, so you can compare schools on the same basis.
- Where does the data come from?
- Public records only: Charity Commission and OSCR accounts, inspection reports from ISI, Ofsted, Education Scotland and Estyn, Department for Education statistics, and each school's own published fees. No school pays to appear, and every figure links to its source.
- What does Chapel & Tuck cost?
- Browsing school profiles is free. Side-by-side comparison of up to three schools, fee histories and full financial detail are on the Prefect plan: £30 for three months, renewing quarterly until you cancel, or £100 for a full year with no auto-renewal.
Peace of Mind Before You Commit
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