Boarding

There are many things that make a boarding education at Thornton College so special. 

The Manor House and grounds at Thornton College are a second home. In many schools, students will walk or be bussed back to separate boarding houses. At Thornton, we do things differently – the majority of our girls actually do go upstairs to bed in the main building!  This means that, until bedtime, all the school’s ground floor facilities are on-hand including the dance studio, sports hall, tennis courts, swimming pool, music practice rooms, the art room, dance studio, library and kitchen!  

The girls learn to live with peers from both the UK and from other countries and cultures whose different points of view about the world develop a deeper understanding of a global society. There is such a sense of camaraderie. They can play tennis until lights out and enjoy pool parties (on a school night!).  The boarding team is always on-hand to give both pastoral and academic support, encouragement and advice. We work as a team to ensure that girls are happy both in their school life and within our boarding houses.

Girls come to us from all over the world, from as close as Milton Keynes, Buckingham, Bicester, Northampton, Banbury and Leighton Buzzard and as far away as Hong Kong, Nigeria and Mexico. Our close proximity to London and excellent rail links means that an increasing number of weekly boarders are joining us from towns along the Milton Keynes to Euston train line including, Harrow, Watford, Berkhamsted, Hemel Hempstead and Tring. Euston to Central Milton Keynes takes just 32 minutes.  We are well situated for London Heathrow airport, London Luton airport, London Stansted airport, London Gatwick airport, Birmingham airport and East Midlands International airport.

Thornton is also proud to be a member of the Boarding Schools Association and have adopted the BSA Boarding Covid-Safe Charter.  We are committed to implementing the most effective measures for the safety of our pupils, parents and staff.  

We are also a member of the British Boarding Schools Network, (BBSN), and we work with agent and education consultants around the world to support them with family enquiries and admissions.