With Sir Keir blessing our independent schools with VAT on top of already headline grabbing rising fees, Bonas MacFarlane head to Switzerland. Famous for a small but highly regarded number of dynamic and even more expensive boarding schools, the Alpine features allow for a very different offering to the UK equivalents.
St. George’s International School
Nestled in a charming rural setting yet close to two idyllic villages, St. George’s radiates warmth and contentment. The campus is bright and spacious, with well-maintained boarding accommodation offering modern facilities and ample privacy. Despite a relatively small boarding population, the larger day student body keeps the school atmosphere vibrant without tipping into overcrowding.
Academically, it stands out. With an average 2024 IB score of 36.8 and nearly 40% of students scoring 38+, it competes well on the global stage. For context, top UK IB schools like Wellington and Sevenoaks posted averages of 38.4 and 39.6 respectively. Oxford and Cambridge typically look for 41–42 IB points, so while the numbers here impress, they still reflect room to grow.
The curriculum is flexible and progressive, welcoming students from a variety of educational backgrounds. The inclusion of primary-aged children fosters a sense of continuity and loyalty among families – a less transient community than many international schools. If there’s a drawback, it’s the 45-minute drive to ski slopes, a minor inconvenience in an otherwise well-rounded offering.
Owned by Inspired Education, a rapidly expanding private education group with global reach, St. George’s benefits from corporate backing while maintaining a balanced, pastoral tone. Understated but confident, this is a school that quietly delivers.
Beau Soleil
One of Switzerland’s longest standing and most well known boarding schools in a stunning mountain village in the form of Villars-sur-Ollon. A skiing village shared by the equally well known Aiglon and family-owned, must see, La Garenne, not to mention the prep boarding school Préfleuri International Alpine School. All of whose presence gives the town a youth friendly feel which perhaps was not as evident on this tour given the timing in the academic year, ongoing overseas trips and Aiglon actually having fully broken up for the Summer holidays.
A one stop shop in many ways with the boarding accommodation, learning spaces and co-curricular facilities more or less in a unified building built into the mountain across eleven levels. Very up to date facilities throughout and a lean towards in the round teaching akin to The Harkness Method. Stunning vistas across the valley from its mountain perch throughout the main building. A visible and visceral effort to promote entrepreneurial zeal and skills to its students through well thought out and expertly delivered schemes such as the coffee roasting and production scheme inclusive of a student run in-school cafe. As we heard and witnessed on account of low student numbers in the school at the time of visiting, Beau Soleil has an astonishing array of mandatory residential trips abroad. With different year groups simultaneously taking constructive community and/or environmental trips from Cambodia to The Maldives and much more in between every summer term. Ostensibly the school self identifies as a non-profit organisation despite being ultimately owned by the global education juggernaut Nord Anglia Education. An impressive duo of staff members gave a very strong account of the school’s prowess without any hint of self-importance.
Despite its awesome aesthetic, I felt that it came with a touch of humility and an earnestness around the delivery of holistic education. Walkable access to the nearest Telecabine ski lift for the winter months and a wide array of co-curricular options well beyond straight forward seasonal slope-based privileges. Students of all ages are permitted to enjoy the town at large in varying degrees based on their age and the days of the week. A beautiful, safe and self-contained school in a traditional Swiss mountain village with impressive modern trappings. I left feeling that the school – despite the privilege of luxury – encourages its students to pull their weight, muck in and not coast. The latter feature of which may well be enhanced by its “under one roof” topography. Traditional for its category at first glance but with an adrenaline injection of contemporary, hi-tech facilities. Over a century of history at the top of its category.
Aiglon
Founded by John Corlette – a disciple of Gordonstoun’s Kurt Hahn – Aiglon wears its educational philosophy with pride. Think outdoor education, leadership development, and holistic learning. Even with no students present during our visit, the spirit of adventure was palpable.
The campus structure is unique. Spread across the village of Ollon, with over 30 separate buildings, it echoes the open-campus feel of traditional British schools like Harrow or Marlborough. Not locked away behind gates, the school breathes with the rhythm of the town.
In the final stages of a 15-year redevelopment, Aiglon is unveiling several stunning new facilities, including “The Restaurant” (their show-stopping new dining hall). Still, some boarding houses feel a little tired, awaiting their place in the renovation queue.
Despite the absence of students, the school still dazzled. A professional-grade F1 simulator and the awe-inspiring “Expedition Room” – brimming with mountaineering and winter sport gear – hint at the school’s deep-rooted culture of physical challenge and personal growth. Students don’t just attend Aiglon; they experience it. Expeditions, leadership training, and alpine survival are woven into the fabric of school life.
Legacy, character, and ambition – Aiglon remains one of Switzerland’s flagship boarding schools.
Le Rosey
The oldest school on this tour, approaching its 145th anniversary celebrations. A huge footprint of a campus in the relatively lowland town of Rolle. About as big as big hitting schools come anywhere in the world. As you sweep onto the campus your eyes are drawn to a vast space-age dome. Within which sits a professional standard 1000-seater concert hall which have recently hosted all manner of musicians from Yo-Yo Ma to Morcheeba. The concerts are open to the general public as well as the staff and students to ensure they can attract the biggest names and indeed fill their impressive hall to capacity. Surrounding the Barbican-esque auditorium are an array of hi-tech learning spaces, classrooms and art studios, along with the school shop, the library and a rather incongruous glass wine cellar (not for the students!). Museum like in its scale this stunning central hub feels like the beating heart of Le Rosey.
As if one heart was not enough, an even bigger circular superstructure is erupting next door to the dome. Opening in September 2025, this extraordinary new building will take over learning spaces for the more STEAM based disciplines. It will also be home to a new Entrepreneurship programme including MITdesignX which will house 15 or so hand picked start-ups from the Massachusetts-based technical education juggernaut. Students will be provided the opportunity to work alongside said start-up companies on project-based collaborations. This feels like a game-changing move from Le Rosey which might go some way to explaining their fee structure which sits as one of the highest in Switzerland which is saying something. Tipped as a hub for entrepreneurship and technical excellence this wildly impressive addition looks set to be another brilliant feather in Le Rosey’s already full-plumed cap.
Walking deeper into the campus a barrack’s worth of traditional Swiss buildings remind one of the school’s considerable history as they open up to tennis courts, a vast outdoor swimming pool, beach volleyball courts, a five-a-side beach football pitch and a rugby pitch (unicorn rare in Switzerland). The buildings currently house some more classrooms and boys accommodation separated by age. They offer in-house dining and a homely base for the male population of the school. Continuing to the edge of the campus passing the original and quite beautiful school building in the form of a manor house, you reach a gate at the end of a tree-lined avenue that Napoleon would have been proud of and leave the main property. A road crossing and a short walk through a local residential development you enter the satellite campus that houses all the girls’ accommodation and dining facilities. Originally a separate all-girls school, it was purchased by Le Rosey many years ago in order to assist in the change from an all-boys school into the co-educational institute that we recognise today. Beautiful gardens and courtyards abound with light and airy accommodation for all year groups and separated as such.
Returning to the main campus, given the low altitude and the glaring blue skies on the hot summer’s day we were there, you might be forgiven for thinking, “well lovely and amazing but we’re in Switzerland, where do the kids ski come the winter months?”. The answer? Gstaad of course. The entire school moves lock stock to the famous and picturesque skiing town from January to March and I mean entire, with everyone from the students and teachers through to the cleaners and catering staff. Although we did not physically visit the campus, photos around the main school show a mountainside oasis where the school’s many chalet style buildings dominate their corner of Gstaad. So just when you might have detected a tinsy chink in Le Rosey’s shiny and fully chromed armour, you return to the thought that this school really does have it all, including the price tag to go with such splendour.
Final Thoughts
Swiss boarding schools are not cheap, nor are they trying to be. But with the UK independent school landscape facing upheaval, it’s no wonder families are casting their gaze toward the Alps. Whether it’s the academic ambition of St. George’s, the entrepreneurial energy of Beau Soleil, the rugged character of Aiglon, or the hyper-luxurious brilliance of Le Rosey, there’s a flavour for every family.
In Switzerland, altitude comes with attitude – and quite a bit of excellence, too.
By William Petty, School Placement Director at Bonas MacFarlane