Private and Boarding Schools near Northamptonshire
A central base for many of the country’s leading independent and boarding schools, for families here and moving from abroad.
Rachel Johnston
Few counties put you within easy reach of as many first-rank schools as Northamptonshire, which is exactly why so many families choose to base themselves here.
Whether you want a day school within the school run or a boarding school with a family base nearby for weekends and exeats, the county and its borders are unusually well served. And with fast links to three London rail stations and airports at Birmingham, Luton, East Midlands and Heathrow via the M40, it works as well for families relocating from overseas as for those already in the UK.
Below are the questions families ask me most, with a directory of the schools themselves.
The questions families ask me most about schools and where to live.
A remarkable spread. For boarding and senior, Oundle, Uppingham and Oakham sit just to the north, Stowe to the south, Rugby and Bilton Grange to the west, Bloxham and Tudor Hall over the Oxfordshire border, and the Bedford schools to the east, with the wider roster of top independents that Northamptonshire families travel to. For day and prep, Northampton High, Wellingborough, Beachborough, Spratton Hall, Pitsford, Quinton House, and Winchester House are all within reach.
The full directory is below.
Yes, and it is a growing part of my work.
For overseas families, Northamptonshire offers a genuine UK base near the school, straightforward airport access, and the space and community that make weekends and exeats a pleasure rather than a logistics exercise.
Buying from a distance, I act as your eyes and ears on the ground: previewing homes, assessing the catchment and the run to the school, negotiating on your behalf and steering the purchase through, so you can plan the move with confidence from wherever you are. Boarding-house proximity and guardianship are part of the conversation.
See Relocating to Northamptonshire for how a remote purchase works.
Basing a search around a single school is a real strategy, but it carries risk if your child does not get a place or the school’s standing shifts, so an area with a spread of good schools is often the safer route.
There is much more on the property side of this, catchment premiums and the school-gate market, on our Property & Private Schools page.
I work alongside educational consultants and our partners at the Good Schools Guide, so we can help shape the school choice first, then find the property to suit, on and off market, within a sensible radius of the school.
School and home solved together, rather than one at the expense of the other.
How we help you find a home near the right school
I match the home to the school and the life around it, negotiate it and handle the process, for families here and moving in from overseas.
