Junior courses · One parent and one child
Boarding School Exploration
Try a British boarding school before you commit to one. A one or two week programme for one parent and one child aged 5 to 17. Your child boards at a British school — lessons, meals, activities and nights in the boarding house. Meanwhile you take English lessons at inlingua Cheltenham in the mornings and visit boarding schools around Cheltenham and Oxford in the afternoons. £3,000 for one week or £5,500 for two, including your child's boarding, your homestay, English lessons, school visits, an excursion, airport transfer and all administrative fees.
- Who
- Parent + childChild aged 5–17
- Length
- 1 or 2 weeksBy arrangement
- Child stays
- Boarding house24-hour care
- From
- £3,000Almost all-inclusive
A decision worth testing first
Choosing a British boarding school is one of the larger decisions a family makes, and it is usually made from a long way away, on the strength of prospectuses and a website. This programme replaces some of that guesswork with a fortnight of first-hand experience — for both of you, at the same time, in the same place.
Your child does not tour a boarding school. They live in one.
For your child
Full boarding immersion
- Real school life. Daily classes, meals and activities alongside British pupils, following the normal timetable.
- The full boarding experience. Nights in the school's boarding house with 24-hour care from house staff.
- Confidence. Practising English all day with British and international classmates, and finding out what living away from home actually feels like.
For you
Study and explore
- Morning lessons. General English 20 at inlingua Cheltenham, so your own English improves while you are here.
- Afternoon school visits. We take you to leading boarding schools around Cheltenham and Oxford. You see the campuses, meet staff and ask the questions that matter.
- A comfortable stay. You live with a friendly local host nearby — close enough to your child, and a window into everyday British life.
Why families choose it
Test before you decide
The best way to find out whether a British boarding school suits your child is to let them try one, briefly, before anyone commits to a year.
Peace of mind
You are a few miles away while your child tries living away from home for the first time. If it goes well, you both know. If it does not, you are there.
Expert guidance
The British school system is not obvious from outside it. We help you understand how it works and which schools would genuinely suit your family.
A route to the next step
If you decide to go ahead, we help you apply to the school and arrange guardianship — so the exploration week leads somewhere rather than stopping.
Price
One price covering both of you. Unusually for our programmes, the airport transfer and administrative fees are already inside it — there is nothing further to add except any extra activities you choose.
| Programme | Accommodation | 1 week | 2 weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boarding School ExplorationBSP · one parent and one child | Boarding house for the child, standard homestay for the parent | £3,000 | £5,500 |
- Includes
- Full boarding school immersion for one child, standard homestay for one parent, General English 20 lessons, boarding school visits, one weekend excursion, airport transfer, daily transport, and all administrative fees
- Excludes
- Additional activities or excursions
What is already inside the price
Three things families usually pay separately elsewhere are covered here:
| Airport transfer Would otherwise be £350–£500 return depending on the airport | Included |
|---|---|
| Registration fee | Included |
| Accommodation arrangement fee | Included |
| Two weeks, all of the above | £5,500 |
Booking two weeks saves £500 against two separate single weeks. Flights, insurance and personal spending are not included. See the full price list.
Dates are arranged with the partner school rather than fixed in advance, since your child joins a normal school week. Contact us with the period you have in mind and we will tell you what is possible.
Guardianship
If the exploration week leads to a place at a British boarding school, the next question is guardianship — and it is worth understanding before you apply, not after.
UK boarding schools require international pupils under 18 to have a guardian in the UK. A guardian is a trusted adult or company responsible for the pupil's safety and wellbeing while their parents live abroad: somebody who can be reached in an emergency, who can collect them at short notice, and who can stand in the place of a parent at a school meeting. It is a condition of admission at essentially every boarding school, and part of the care arrangements the Home Office expects for a child studying in the UK.
Greatway Guardianship and Educational Services
We work with Greatway, a professional guardianship company based here in Cheltenham and accredited by AEGIS, the association that sets and inspects standards for guardianship in the UK. They act as a local parent — coordinating directly with partner schools like inlingua Cheltenham, so guardianship is arranged before your child arrives in the country rather than scrambled together afterwards.
What a guardian actually does
24-hour emergency support
An emergency team available around the clock, seven days a week, for anything urgent.
Safe hosts during school breaks
Boarding houses close for half terms and holidays. Greatway places pupils with kind, welcoming, checked local hosts for those weeks.
School liaison
The link between your family, your agent and the school. They attend parents' evenings and keep track of academic progress on your behalf.
Support in your own language
Greatway can speak with you and your child in your native language, so nothing important is lost in translation at the moment it matters.
Travel and practical help
Transport to and from school, and making sure your child has what they need for daily life and study in the UK.
Boarding school visits, arranged together
inlingua Cheltenham and Greatway run this programme jointly. While you visit the boarding schools in the Cheltenham area, your child is either in English lessons with us or living the school day at a boarding school. It is the same week doing two jobs at once.
Email info@inlingua-cheltenham.co.uk to talk it through.
Cheltenham is a good place to look
The town has an unusual concentration of well-regarded independent schools, and Oxford is an hour away. That means a week here can cover more ground than a week almost anywhere else in England — several campuses, several conversations with admissions staff, without long journeys eating the afternoons.
Your own week is not wasted either. Mornings on General English 20 put you in a class of eight to twelve adults from other countries, which is useful preparation for the conversations you will be having with a British school for the next several years.
Schools we work with
We have working relationships with a number of independent schools in and around Cheltenham. Which ones we visit during your week depends on your child's age, the kind of education you are looking for and what each school has available while you are here.
Boarding schools
Dean Close School
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
A co-educational boarding and day school a few minutes from our own building. Dean Close is also our partner for the residential International Summer School, which runs in its boarding houses each July and August.
Haberdashers' Monmouth
Monmouth, about an hour from Cheltenham
A long-established boarding and day school just over the Welsh border, in a market town on the edge of the Wye Valley. Worth seeing if you want to compare a rural setting with a town one.
Day schools
Not every family concludes that boarding is the right answer. Some decide a day school with a homestay suits a younger or less independent child better, at least to begin with — and for children under 11 that is often the more realistic route. These two form an all-through day school from nursery to eighteen.
St Edward's School
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
A co-educational independent day school founded on Christian values and welcoming pupils of all faiths and none, set in over forty acres of grounds on the edge of the Cotswolds.
Ashley Manor Preparatory School
Charlton Kings, Cheltenham
The preparatory school to St Edward's, taking children from one to eleven in parkland grounds on the edge of town. The natural first step for a younger child, with most pupils moving up to St Edward's at the end of Year 6.
And more besides
These are the schools we work with most often, but they are not the whole list — Cheltenham and the surrounding area have a high concentration of independent schools, and Oxford is an hour away. Tell us your child's age, their interests and what matters most to your family, and we will build the week around the schools most likely to suit you rather than the ones nearest the door.
Other ways into a British school
State School Placement
A longer immersion in the British state system — a term or two studying alongside British pupils at a school in Gloucestershire, with full board homestay and daily transport included. Ages 11 to 18, level B1 and above, from £695 a week.
See State School Placement →All junior programmes
Summer Camp, School Holiday Camp, school group ministays and more, for students aged 11 to 17.
See all junior courses →Common questions
Who is the Boarding School Exploration programme for?
One parent and one child aged 5 to 17, travelling together. It suits families seriously considering a British boarding school who would rather test the idea than commit to it on paper. Your child boards at a British school while you take English lessons and visit schools.
How much does it cost and what is included?
£3,000 for one week or £5,500 for two. That covers full boarding school immersion for your child, standard homestay for you, General English 20 lessons, the boarding school visits, one weekend excursion, airport transfer, daily transport and all administrative fees. Additional activities or excursions are not included.
Which boarding school will my child attend?
That depends on availability and on your child's age and interests. We work with a number of independent schools in and around Cheltenham, including Dean Close School in Cheltenham and Haberdashers' Monmouth for boarding, and St Edward's School and its preparatory school Ashley Manor for day education. We arrange the placement with a partner school and confirm it before you travel.
Does my child need a guardian?
For a short exploration week travelling with you, no — you are here. For a long-term boarding place, yes: UK boarding schools require international pupils under 18 to have a UK guardian, and it is part of the care arrangements expected for a child studying here. We work with Greatway Guardianship, an AEGIS-accredited company based in Cheltenham, and can arrange it as part of your application.
What does a guardian do during school holidays?
Boarding houses close for half terms and holidays, so pupils need somewhere to go. Greatway places them with checked local hosts, arranges the travel and stays in contact with you throughout.
What English level does my child need?
There is no formal minimum for the exploration week, but your child will be following normal lessons alongside British pupils, so the more English they have the more they will get from it. Tell us their level when you enquire and we will advise honestly.
What if we decide boarding school is not right for us?
Then the week has done its job. Finding out that a British boarding school does not suit your child, before committing to years of fees and a great deal of upheaval, is a good outcome rather than a wasted trip.
Do we need a visa?
It depends on your nationality and the length of your stay. A one or two week visit usually falls under a Standard Visitor Visa, and some nationalities need only an ETA digital permit. We issue visa support letters once a deposit has been received. Check the current rules on the UK government website, as they change.
Tell us when you can travel
Dates are arranged with the partner school, so the more notice you can give, the more choice you will have. Email us with the period you have in mind and your child's age, and we will tell you what is possible.
Prices valid for courses starting in 2027. Last updated August 2026.