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Boarding school

Whether you would ever send a child to live at school, and from what age.

Should we consider boarding school?

In short: Parents choose between 4 main approaches: Never; Only if the teen asks; For high school; From a younger age. Evidence: evidence leans one way. Research or guidance points in a direction, but it's thin, small or correlational. Best settled: tween.

Evidence
Evidence leans one way
Best settled
Tween
Part of
Learning & the wider world

Boarding school: what are the options?

Parents usually land on one of these 4 approaches.

  1. 1. Never

    The child will not live away at school.

  2. 2. Only if the teen asks

    You would consider it only if the teen wants it.

  3. 3. For high school

    The child may board during the high-school years.

  4. 4. From a younger age

    The child may board before high school.

Boarding school: what does the evidence say?

Evidence leans one way. Research or guidance points in a direction, but it's thin, small or correlational. (Leans (limited evidence))

The strongest evidence is a randomized trial at a French boarding school of excellence for disadvantaged students (244 offered places, 137 comparison): the top-performing third gained 0.72 standard deviations in math after two years, weaker students gained nothing, French was unchanged, and well-being dropped in year one before recovering in year two; cost was about double that of a regular school. Studies of boarders' mental health are mixed, with a longitudinal study linking boarding to more depressive symptoms through reduced school belonging and others finding no effect (BMC Psychology, 2025; summary only). A clinical literature describes lasting distress in some adults who boarded young (Schaverien), but it is based on therapy patients rather than representative samples

Sources

What else is worth knowing?

At a boarding school the child lives at the school during term. It is uncommon in North America and central to some family traditions. It usually arises as a question only in certain circumstances.

Questions to ask each other

  • What would make us consider boarding school?
  • What would our child gain and lose?
  • How do we each feel about it, honestly?

More in School and academics

First published 2026-10-03. Last updated 2026-10-05. General information, not medical advice.