# Boarding school

**Should we consider boarding school?**

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

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.

- Area: School and academics
- Evidence: Evidence leans one way
- Best settled: Tween
- First published: 2026-10-03
- Last updated: 2026-10-05
- Page: https://www.raisingyourchild.com/topics/school-and-academics--boarding-school

## Boarding school: what are the options?

1. **Never**: The child will not live away at school.
2. **Only if the teen asks**: You would consider it only if the teen wants it.
3. **For high school**: The child may board during the high-school years.
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:

- [J-PAL](https://www.povertyactionlab.org/evaluation/educational-returns-boarding-schools-underserved-secondary-school-children-france)
- [BMC Psychology, 2025](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40359-025-03620-0)

## 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?

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General information, not medical advice. Two parents can each answer this and compare: https://www.raisingyourchild.com/explore?cat=school-and-academics&topic=school-and-academics--boarding-school