Boarding Concern is committed to challenging the tradition of educating children away from home at boarding school.

The emotional cost to children of adapting to boarding goes largely unquestioned and unacknowledged while the boarding school industry promotes itself by results and achievements.

Our core concern is the psychological and emotional impact on children who spend two-thirds of each year in an institution, living apart from family and home.

We advocate raising children within families while emphasising the special problems in early boarding (for children under 13). We highlight the effects of surviving the boarding experience on psychological development and relationships of all kinds in adulthood.

Our supporters include former boarders who range in age from their 20’s upwards: the issues are as relevant and on-going today as they were in the past.

Our website offers:


• Information for parents considering boarding for their children
• Support and information for boarders and former boarders
• Advice in identifying behavioural symptoms former boarders exhibit and suggestions on ways to recover
• Research and literature on child development and disrupted attachments with family and home
• An extensive reading list for issues surrounding boarding schools – personal and academic
• Information for therapists working with former boarders
• A summary of the issues for media or research enquiries

Latest Developments

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