Being a boarder opens up a wider world T
he teenage years are critical ones in preparing for young adulthood, and the education, environment and support systems that surround young people at this time clearly make a huge difference to their outcomes. British boarding schools have long played a role in this process and are among the most well-respected and prestigious in the world. The modern boarding school experience is about personal growth and development, about learning to learn and enjoy learning, as well as about fulfilling one’s potential, academic and otherwise. There are 503 UK schools in the Boarding Schools Association, and over 75,000 boarders in BSA schools. Former boarders, surveyed by The Association of British Boarding Schools, affirmed their belief that the boarding experience helped them develop in areas such as self-discipline, maturity, and independence, as well as building valuable personal skills, such as the ability to work collaboratively, and resilience.
It is increasingly recognised that young people need to be flexible to meet the demands of adult life and work, in a world that is fast-paced and constantly changing, globally connected, digitally literate and information-saturated. As well as promoting academic aspiration, and offering a platform for outstanding academic outcomes, boarding helps to build critical ‘soft skills’ which young people need to thrive in the modern world. Boarding promotes ‘real world’ interaction, cooperation, communication, problem solving and creativity. It builds a sense of belonging, alongside individual responsibility to the community as a whole and the expectation of meaningful contribution, underpinned by respect for a diversity of backgrounds, experiences and views.
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boarding helps to build critical soft skills
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Full boarding is at the heart of the Marlborough College ethos and has always been a hugely important part of the Marlburian experience. Marlborough College was founded in 1843 by a group of Church of England clergymen, commissioned by the Archbishop of Canterbury, to educate young men to fill the significant need for clergy to support the rapidly growing industrial towns. This required a first class academic and spiritual education, but it was also fundamentally about developing empathy, leadership and social skills, and a commitment to a social purpose, aspects which were fostered by the College’s full boarding community.
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