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Best boarding schools in Dorset

For parents living in Dorset and on the lookout for a boarding school that's not too much of slog to get to for visits or ferrying your child to and from home, this is essential reading. We run through the best boarding schools Dorset has to offer.
Boarders at Port Regis School reclining on a sofa
Port Regis School, Dorset

For a county of its size, Dorset has an impressive range of boarding schools which attract families from near and far. There may not be a motorway in Dorset but it’s very well connected by road, rail and air so boarders find it easy to get to the county’s schools. Heathrow is only a two hour drive away and Bournemouth Airport has regular flights from places like Edinburgh, Geneva and Malaga.

Boarding at prep school level is less popular than at senior school but Port Regis near Shaftesbury, sees almost two thirds of pupils doing some form of boarding, whether full, flexi or occasional nights. Sherborne Preparatory School offers boarding from year 3 onwards (although few children board before year 5). Part of the same group as Sherborne Prep is Hanford Prep, a girls’ boarding school just outside Blandford. It offers variations on the full, flexi and weekly flavours of boarding – pre-breakfast pony rides for the early risers. Pupils and parents told our reviewer that boarding is ‘one of the best things about Hanford.’

Some big names with global reputations are beacons of boarding excellence in the Dorset landscape. Bryanston School, Canford School, Clayesmore School, Milton Abbey, Sherborne School and Sherborne Girls all have big boarding numbers, including students from abroad and children from forces families. Talbot Heath School in Bournemouth also admits boarders, some of whom combine top-flight tennis and swimming training with their academic work.

Pupils sitting on the branches of a big old tree in the grounds of Hanford Prep
Hanford Prep, Blandford Forum

Boarding schools near Dorset

The area around Dorset offers a plethora of other boarding options too. The nearest include Millfield School, King’s School, Bruton, the Taunton schools – Taunton School, King’s College, Taunton and Queen’s College – Wellington School and Wells Cathedral School. There’s also Kingswood School in Bath and Downside School at nearby Stratton-on-the-Fosse while Devon boarding schools include Blundell’s, Mount Kelly and West Buckland School. Further afield, some Dorset parents opt for Winchester College (all boys, with a co-ed sixth form) or co-ed Marlborough College in Wiltshire. 

Exterior view of Milton Abbey surround by a large green lawn and blue skies.
Milton Abbey School, Dorset