Every year, around February, we get the same question from parents in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi: "How do we tell a good UK summer programme from a glossy one?"
It's a fair question. The brochures look similar. The websites use the same photographs. The fees range from astonishing to also astonishing. So here is the list we'd want, if we were on your side of the table.
1. Who actually hosts the programme?
There's a meaningful difference between a programme that rents a school for the summer and one that is run with a school as a long-standing partner. The latter has staff who know each other by first names, safeguarding that's institutional, and a head of pastoral care who picks up the phone.
Ask: "Which school will my child sleep at, and what is your contractual relationship with them?"
2. What is the staff-to-student ratio — and who are the staff?
Anything above 1:10 is a red flag for ages 13–15. We aim for 1:8 on every cohort, and for younger groups closer to 1:6. Ask whether chaperones are professional educators or summer hires, and how they were vetted.
A boarding school in summer is still a boarding school. The same people who keep British 14-year-olds safe in February should be on duty in July.
3. What does the day actually look like?
A good programme has a published daily structure. Mornings are typically academic or skill-led; afternoons are activity, project or excursion; evenings are pastoral and social. If the brochure can only show you photos without a schedule, ask for one.
4. What's the worst-case plan?
Ask, gently, what happens if your child becomes ill at 2am, or homesick on day four, or loses a passport. A serious operator has a written answer for each. There should be a 24/7 emergency number that connects to a named human in your time zone within five minutes.
5. Is the price the price?
Read the fee inclusions carefully. The four most common surprise costs are: visa fees, excursion supplements, airport transfers, and "elective" weekend trips. We include all four. Many do not.
6. How do they handle communication with parents?
You should expect a daily photo-and-message update, a scheduled weekly video call, and one named coordinator who responds to you specifically. "We post to our Instagram" is not a parent-communication strategy.
7. What is the return artefact?
A good programme produces something the student takes home: a project, a portfolio, a certificate, a research report, a performance. This matters less because of the artefact and more because of what its existence reveals about how the fortnight was structured.
8. Will they put you in touch with last year's parents?
Any operator who has run a programme for more than a season should be willing to connect you with two or three families who attended. Ask. If the answer is no, that is the answer.
One last thing
The best programmes don't oversell. They tell you what they do, what they don't do, and who else they can recommend if you'd be better off elsewhere. If you're talking to a provider who is willing to say "we're not the right fit for your child" — you have probably found a serious one.
If you'd like to talk through any of the above with our team, we're a short call away.
