Successful stand alones

Aysgarth, North Yorkshire Acclaimed, outdoorsy boarding prep for boys and the only one in the North of England, although girls are admitted to the pre-prep (ages 3–8)

Beeston Hall, Norfolk The largest boarding prep in East Anglia (4–13; co-ed) sends children to senior schools all around the country, an impressive 65% of them with a scholarship

Hanford, Dorset Glorious girls’ boarding prep school (age 7–13), offering ponies, a kitchen garden and tree-climbing in the middle of beautiful countryside

Ludgrove, Berkshire High standards abound at this happy, family-run boys’ prep school, offering fortnightly boarding (pupils go home at lunchtime every other Friday) for boys aged 8–13

Papplewick, Berkshire There is day, weekly and full boarding at this Ascot prep, where ‘boys can be boys’

Sherborne, Dorset Remains all boys and full boarding, and is fiercely proud of the fact, but is no longer strictly a stand alone, as it merged with Sherborne Prep in 2021

Sherborne Girls, Dorset More than 90% boarding and ‘separate, but together’ with the boys’ school next door

Radley, Oxfordshire Hugely successful all-boys boarding school (ages 13–18), alongside Eton and Harrow, set on a river with a rural bent

Woodcote House, Berkshire Refreshingly traditional, familyrun boys’ prep (majority board, bus service to London), with a new kitchen garden