United Kingdom · Cranbrook, Kent · Founded 1923
Benenden School
A full-boarding girls' school in a park, a royal alumna and a curriculum called the Benenden Diploma alongside A-levels.
The character
Benenden is a girls' school that feels like a country house party with lessons: full boarding, a strong house system, music and drama in a beautiful setting and girls who leave confident and kind. It is less academic than Wycombe and more relaxed, and many families prefer it for that.
Good for
Girls who want full boarding and countryside, the arts, families who want warmth
Less suited to
Day pupils, the most academic girls
Getting in
Entry at 11 and 13 via assessment and interview, a small entry at 16; register at least a year ahead.
What it costs in total
At about £ 55,000 a year for boarding, the 5 years from 13 to 18 add up to roughly €364,000 in today’s money including typical extras, before fee increases, tutoring and flights. The Education Cost Calculator adds inflation, extras and a second child.
Fees are rounded 2025/26 figures from the school’s own schedule and change every year. The school’s current fee sheet prevails. The picture is an impression of the setting, not a photograph of the campus.
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