Boarding schools under £30,000 for international families

Where the under £30K boarding band sits

Full boarding fees vary enormously by country. In the United Kingdom and Switzerland, senior boarding at a traditional school now sits well above 30,000 pounds a year once tuition and boarding are combined, so a tight budget rarely stretches to a full boarding place there. The picture is very different in Asia and Africa, where established boarding schools in Malaysia, Thailand, India and Kenya publish combined day and boarding fees that sit closer to or under that band for many year groups. Our own city fee pages show published tuition ranges for these markets, and boarding is charged on top, so the honest picture is that a single school is rarely at its cheapest across every year group. Weekly boarding, and the early and middle years, are usually the most affordable. Currency movement matters too, because fees set in ringgit, baht, rupee or shilling convert differently month to month against the pound. Treat any headline figure as a starting point and confirm the exact combined fee for your child's year group in writing.

The wider point is that a budget boarding shortlist is really a market shortlist. Rather than chase a single cheap school, look first at the countries where the whole boarding level sits lower, then compare the established schools within them. Read this alongside our overview of the IB curriculum and the relevant international school fees pages so the figures below sit in context.

How we chose these schools

We have drawn this shortlist from established boarding schools in the markets where combined day and boarding fees sit near or under 30,000 pounds a year for many year groups, chiefly Malaysia, Thailand, India and Kenya. Every school named offers boarding and has a full profile on this site. We do not attach a fixed figure to any single school, because fees change each year, differ between year groups and shift with the exchange rate, and printing a stale number would be worse than none. Instead we tell you which market each school sits in and what to confirm. Read each note as a prompt to ask, not as a quoted price.

Schools to shortlist

Each school below offers boarding and has a full profile on this site. The notes tell you what to confirm rather than quote a price, because tuition and boarding move each year and by year group.

• Epsom College in Malaysia, a British style boarding school in Malaysia, a market where combined fees run well below a UK equivalent. Confirm the current tuition and boarding fee for your child's year group, as senior years sit above the early years.
• Bromsgrove International School, offers boarding in Thailand at a competitive fee point. Ask the admissions team for the combined day and boarding schedule by year group and whether any registration fees apply on top.
• British International School Phuket, an IB World School in Thailand with boarding. Confirm the current combined band for your stage, since senior years usually exceed the primary rate.
• Indus International School Bangalore, a full IB continuum school in India with boarding, one of the lower cost boarding markets. Ask for the current combined fee by year group in writing.
• Aga Khan Academy Nairobi, an IB World School in Kenya with boarding and a bursary tradition. Confirm which years fall under your budget and ask about financial support.
• Day Waterman College, a boarding school near Abeokuta in Nigeria at a competitive fee point for the region. Ask the admissions office for the combined schedule and whether the senior years remain within your ceiling.

How to check a fee properly

A published headline fee is only the start. Ask each school for the full fee schedule by year group, because a school that sits under your ceiling in primary can rise above it by the senior years. Ask what is charged on top of tuition, since registration, capital or building levies, transport, meals and exam entry are often billed separately and can add a fifth or more to the real cost. Ask whether the fee is set in US dollars or in the local currency, because a figure pegged to a local currency moves with the exchange rate and the number you were quoted may not hold. Finally, ask about sibling discounts and payment plans, which can change what is affordable for a family with more than one child. A school that answers all of this clearly and in writing is showing you the true cost of attendance rather than a marketing number.

It also helps to visit, and to weigh weekly boarding against full boarding, since a weekly place can bring a school under your ceiling. Use the city guides below to plan those visits alongside the rest of your research.

Markets and fees by city

These are the markets the schools above sit in. Each city guide sets out the local landscape, and each fees page shows the published tuition bands so you can sense check any figure a school gives you, remembering that boarding is charged on top.

• Kuala Lumpur international schools
• Bangkok international schools
• Bangkok secondary fees
• Bengaluru international schools
• Nairobi international schools
• More guides on the GlobalSchoolGuide blog

Frequently asked questions