Fully accredited by both AEGIS and the BSA, we support international students throughout their time at UK boarding schools by providing a friendly, caring service around the clock.
We understand how important it is to find the best partner to support your family during your child’s time at an English boarding school. That’s why you need a guardian you can trust.
English Country Guardians has exceeded the highest standards required for our AEGIS and BSA accreditation, ensuring you have complete confidence in our premium guardianship support.
We provide a range of services to ensure your child has all the care they need. In consultation with you, we will tailor a suitable programme depending on the level of service you choose.
Video call and handbooks
In addition to a video chat to help you and your child prepare, we also provide Parent and Student Handbooks. These include information such as an introduction to British culture, what to expect in the UK at boarding school, staying with an English host family, and general advice to support your child.
Parent and student portals
Under the care of English Country Guardians, you can login to your parent and student portals on our user-friendly guardianship management system. Parents have access to their child’s travel arrangements including live flight details, expense account and general resources. Host family feedback is available on your parent portal after each homestay visit.
School supplies
We are happy to offer advice and assist with shopping for essentials such as a school uniform, mobile, laptop, etc. Many items can be pre-ordered in advance to ensure everything is ready when your child arrives.
When your child first arrives in the UK, they may have a single-entry visa in their passport. Once they arrive at school, they will receive their British Residency Permit (BRP) which is a multiple-entry visa.
International students must always travel with both their passport and their BRP whenever they leave the UK - otherwise they won’t be allowed back into the country!
If your child is out of the UK and realises they’ve left their BRP at school, then they will need to arrange for it to be sent to them or request a duplicate. If you use English Country Guardians as your professional guardian, then this is one of the many services we can help you with.
Our visa and immigration services also include a guardianship letter to support your child’s visa application and renewals. Plus, through our partner network, we can help you access our preferential rates without costly lawyer’s identity verification procedures.
Finding your way through the airport on your own can be scary, especially in a foreign country. When you use our Airport Assistance, we remove all the stress and help your child each step of the way.
We can arrange for one of our guardianship escorts to meet your child at the plane door, accompany them all the way through the airport (including passport control and baggage), and help them connect to another flight or take them to their waiting taxi.
Alternatively, if your child is leaving the UK, we can meet them at check-in and accompany them all the way through to the departure lounge when they board their flight.
If desired, we can also arrange for an adult chaperone to accompany your child on a flight.
And if the flight is delayed or they miss their connection, we will sort everything out for you - no problem!
Carefully selected expert drivers are also part of the English Country Guardians team who support our students in the UK. All our drivers have full security clearance, and we have a selection of vehicles of all sizes.
Our drivers enjoy meeting and helping our international students during their travels in England – whether it is to the airport, homestay or to school. We like our drivers to get to know our students, so we encourage them to chat to your child. Whenever possible, we’ll organise the same driver for all your child's journeys. We can also arrange transport for parents and families when you visit the UK, too.
Finally, we provide a phone number so your child can easily contact English Country Guardians when they are travelling.
As your child arrives at their new boarding school, English Country Guardians will ensure they settle in comfortably.
Every child receives a Welcome Pack, which includes useful items, treats, and if you ordered one, a mobile SIM card with a pre-purchased annual contract.
Shopping support
Whether or not you've used our pre-arrival shopping services, we’re here to help. We can pick up essentials for your child throughout their time in England, from school uniforms and mobiles to laptops and more. Whatever it is you need, we can take care of it!
Expenses and pocket money
We can handle payment of student expenses incurred out of school, as well as ensure your child has access to pocket money for little treats.
Special occasions
We support your child at special school events such as a school play, recital, or sports matches. We will cheer them on and share in their achievements!
Our team is especially good at organising birthday cakes, flowers, helium balloons, cards, and other personal gifts and little surprises – whatever is required to make your child’s day extra special for them.
Your child’s health is very important to us and everyone looking after them in the UK.
During school term
If your child feels unwell, the boarding house staff will arrange a medical consultation with the school nurse or doctor. If they need specialist medical care, the school will contact you and English Country Guardians to arrange treatment through the National Health Service (NHS).
Access to NHS care
Your child can receive NHS treatment free of charge as you have paid the International Health Surcharge as part of their Child Student Visa.
Most dental, orthodontic, physiotherapy, and eye care treatments can be arranged with a private provider (not via the NHS).
During school holidays
If your child is unwell while at a homestay, the host family will inform English Country Guardians and arrange for a consultation with a pharmacist or NHS doctor if needed. We will always try to contact you as soon as possible.
We keep in regular contact with your child while they are in the UK to ensure their safety, well-being, and happiness. As their appointed guardian, we provide year-round support, helping them settle into school life both academically, personally, and culturally.
Communication and school liaison
As your appointed guardian, English Country Guardians will visit your child at least once every school term to hear about their social life and find out how they’re enjoying life in their boarding house.
At least once a year, your school will have a Parents’ Meeting, which we can attend on your behalf. We’ll also meet your child’s teachers to discuss how they are doing with schoolwork and other activities like music and sport. We will send yoiu our report, so that as their parents, you will know how your child is adjusting and growing.
English Country Guardians will:
Settling in and cultural support
We look after your child’s best interests while at school, lend a helping hand when needed, or listen to their feedback when they need to talk to someone.
English Country Guardians will:
We work hard to help your child settle into boarding school academically and reach their educational goals.
Our staff can attend school progress meetings (Parents' Meetings) on your behalf to provide pastoral and academic support. This presents an important opportunity for us to:
English Country Guardians will also:
At English Country Guardians, we are dedicated to ensuring your child’s success, well-being, and happiness while they study in the UK. Our experienced team is here to provide guidance, support, and a helping hand whenever needed.
English Country Guardians will:
If your child’s academic performance is not up the expected standards, English Country Guardians also provides Disciplinary Suspension Support, which includes emergency homestays with a host family and school meetings attendance.
When school is not in session, your child can take advantage of extra study opportunities in a more relaxed setting with more focused study goals and less pressure.
English Country Guardians will:
Our screened host families provide a caring family home when your child is on mini breaks from school and offer a wonderful opportunity for UK cultural immersion.
Our homestay services include matching your child to a host family and arranging stays at weekends, holidays, and school breaks such as half term or exeat (leave) weekends.
We offer advice and support if your child would benefit from taking English language courses prior to starting boarding school in England or during term breaks.
During longer half term holidays, students can stay with hosts in other locations across the UK, so they visit as much of their host country as possible. Host families will often take international students on day trips or involve them in popular English activities such as:
We can also help arrange educational activities, trips, and revision courses as required.
No matter what surprises pop up, English Country Guardians will ensure your child receives assistance any hour, any day of the year. Whether it’s medical support, travel arrangements or accidents, we’re here to look after your child in any emergency.
Our local staff across the UK are on-hand 24 hours a day, 365 days a year so we can quickly fix problems such as getting stuck in the airport, losing their mobile phone, or even simply running out of funds while in town or on a school trip. We can provide emergency cash from selected ATMs or we can transfer pocket money to your child’s school or personal bank account without forex charges.
Some international students who attend English boarding schools are hoping to advance to university in the UK. We can also offer support and advice here, too.
Each year we help our students gain entry to top universities including Oxford and Cambridge, LSE, UCL, Imperial and all of the British universities in the Russell Group. Thanks to our parent company Academic Families, we can help your child find the best-fit higher education institution where they can thrive academically and personally.
Our higher education services include:
Learn more about our UK higher education admissions services from Academic Families.
English Country Guardians is part of the Academic Families group, which has a wealth of resources you can access to learn more about the boarding school environment and what to expect when your child attends school in the UK.
Below is a selection of posts from our Academic Families blog library.
Contact us to discuss your guardianship requirements.
© 2025 English Country Guardians | part of the Academic Families group
