British Boarding School Experience at Abbey College Manchester

The weekly study timetable combines academic subjects with English language lessons, so that pupils carry the language into the subjects they are studying rather than learning it apart from them. Pupils are placed at the level appropriate to their age and prior schooling, and work alongside the college's own pupils across the curriculum. The placement runs for one or two terms, and pupils finish with a comprehensive academic report and a completion certificate. At this college the placement is offered at GCSE and A Level.

The termly fee covers tuition, the English language lessons, accommodation with full board, pastoral support and the extra-curricular programme. Fees are quoted inclusive of VAT. A registration fee and a refundable deposit are charged separately, and examination entry is not included. Pupils finish with a comprehensive academic report and a completion certificate.

Pupils board at Clydesdale House, the college's own boarding house, which has sixty-seven single en suite bedrooms with full board. Room options are Standard, Corner and Premium. For pupils under sixteen the college instead places them with Manchester host families, which it selects to ensure a friendly and safe environment. Pastoral support is included either way.

Full board is included with boarding-house accommodation.

Pupils join the college's extra-curricular programme as full members of the student community: weekly clubs, sports and activities, lectures, and university preparation sessions.

The college sits on Cheapside, off King Street in the centre of Manchester, within walking distance of the city's libraries, museums, theatres and sports facilities. It has twenty-eight fully equipped classrooms, five science laboratories, an art and textiles studio, a photography studio with darkroom, two computer suites, a large study centre, a common room and wellbeing rooms, and a college nurse with onsite medical facilities. Boarding is at Clydesdale House, with sixty-seven single en suite bedrooms.

The placement is built for pupils considering a British school or university and wanting to find out what that actually involves before committing. A term is long enough to be taught, assessed and supported as any other pupil is, rather than to visit. Because academic subjects and English lessons sit in the same timetable, and because pupils board alongside their classmates, the language stops being a subject and becomes the medium of the day.