Which British boarding school has Gina visited now?

The latest British boarding school Gina has visited is Harrogate Ladies’ College. Located in a 22-acre site within walking distance of the centre of the beautiful Victorian spa town of Harrogate, this is a small school with just 260 students, of whom around a third are boarders.

Its size goes a long way towards achieving the friendly, warm and supportive feel that pervades the school community, within which students are encouraged to achieve highly and to ‘Be the best they can be’. The resulting very small classes ensure each girl feels valued and able to be their best.

Around 20 GCSE subjects are offered, then around 25 different A Level options and EPQ. Food Tech is a popular subject, taught within a lovely light and airy teaching space, and the creative Arts provision is also impressive. Art, Photography and Textiles are all offered as standalone academic subjects at A Level, with DT soon to be re-introduced. 

There is an excellent music school with 20 practice and rehearsal rooms hosting over 100 individual music lessons a week. The theatre, chapel and 350-seat assembly hall all offer great performance spaces for the Gallery and Chapel choirs, as well as the wide range of instrumental ensembles, inter-house drama competitions and major annual theatrical productions.

A lovely Business School is located near the Sixth Form teaching areas, and a very popular café opens twice a day to serve Sixth Form students various coffees, hot drinks and paninis.

Good sports facilities include a re-developed swimming pool complex, tennis and badminton courts and a large indoor sports hall. Timetabled and extra-curricular sports range from netball, swimming and rounders to gymnastics and golf, with lacrosse, or ‘Lackie’, being a favourite.

The two mixed-age boarding houses have shared bedrooms for girls in Years 7-13 and are really lovely. The common rooms are beautifully done and provide a real home from home feeling. Boarders and day girls are fully integrated, with meals and supervised prep taken in school by all, and an impressive evening and weekend programme of activities ranges from theatre trips to ice-skating, hiking and shopping.

This is a British boarding school Gina has visited often and knows well, but it is always good to get a fresh perspective. If you think your daughter would thrive in this small, supportive school, please contact her to find out more.