English
Local Coordinator Close to your School
Your local coordinator visits your child, attends parents' evenings on your behalf and stays in touch throughout your guardianship programme.
British Guardianship at Aldro
Nominated Guardian for Aldro. Boarding school guardianship for international students.
Are you looking for a Nominated Guardian for Aldro? UK boarding schools generally require international students under 18 to have an accredited UK guardian in place throughout their studies. British Guardianship provides a fully accredited boarding school guardianship service for Aldro students, including a dedicated local coordinator, safe accommodation with vetted host families during half terms, exeats and holidays, attendance at parents' evenings on your behalf, and 24-hour emergency support.
Guardianship Fees
Our UK boarding school guardianship services for Aldro start from £350 per term.
Dedicated Guardianship Manager
As soon as your application is received, a dedicated member of our guardianship team becomes your main contact, managing every aspect of your nominated guardian arrangements.
Local Vetted Host Family
We work with a network of vetted host families across the UK. For exeats and half terms, we aim to place your child with a local host family matched to your preferences, so weekends away from school feel settled and safe.
Our Services
UK Boarding School Guardianship
An accredited nominated guardian for international boarders at Aldro, with a dedicated local coordinator, vetted host families for half terms, exeats and holidays, and 24-hour emergency support.
Learn More →Boarding School Placement
Our admissions team supports international families through the application to Aldro, from choosing the right year of entry through to an offer and enrolment, with Child Student visa guidance and guardianship arranged alongside.
Learn More →Aldro Overview
Aldro is an independent, co-educational day and boarding prep school for children aged 7 to 13 in the village of Shackleford, near Godalming in Surrey. The school is under ten minutes' drive from Godalming and around 15 minutes from Guildford, where trains reach London Waterloo in under 40 minutes. Aldro began in Eastbourne in the 1890s and moved in 1940 to Hall Place in Shackleford, where its grounds include a lake used for rowing and a chapel converted from a barn of around 1806.
Around 230 pupils attend, from Year 3 to Year 8, and the school prepares them for the move to senior school at 13. Saturday lessons are no longer part of the timetable, although pupils attend on a few Saturdays for events such as Sports Day and Speech Day.
Boarding at Aldro
Around 60 pupils board, roughly three-quarters of them boys, and the boarding community mixes local families with boarders from overseas, including Spain. Aldro offers full-time, weekly and part-time boarding, and a weekly boarding bus serves families in south-west London. Big Boarding Weekends bring individual year groups together for a weekend of activities in school.
Boarding Houses and Accommodation
Boarders sleep in dormitories and are looked after by a boarding team that includes a Housemaster and Housemistress, matrons, tutors and gap year students. Matrons take care of uniform, kit and pocket money, tutors check homework, and staff are close at hand at bedtime, when stories and a quiet conversation before lights out are part of the routine.
Boarding Life
Evenings include themed events such as Wacky Wednesdays, roller discos, pool parties and bonfires, and on summer evenings boarders can take boats out on the school lake. Trips have included Buckingham Palace, ice skating at Hampton Court, go-karting, England rugby at Twickenham, historic dockyards, London galleries and Oxford.
Academic and Pastoral Support
A central team of six Learning Support and SEND specialists works with teachers on adaptive teaching, shares individual education plans and offers weekly one-to-one lessons where a pupil's needs cannot be fully met in class. The SENDCo and pastoral team meet each week to identify pupils who may benefit from counselling or support from an on-site Emotional Literacy Support Assistant.
International boarders at Aldro are generally expected to have a UK guardian. British Guardianship provides AEGIS accredited boarding school guardianship for international students at UK boarding schools.
Facilities & Activities at Aldro
Every accredited UK boarding school offers a range of sport, arts and academic facilities for international students, together with an extended programme of activities in the evenings and at weekends. For full details of the facilities and activities available, please visit the official Aldro website.
Information for International Students and Parents
Aldro educates pupils from Year 3 (age 7) to Year 8 (age 13), and its boarders include children from overseas as well as local families. Most international students join in September; entry in other year groups is considered individually. British Guardianship supports international families through every stage of the application with our boarding school admissions service.
English Language Requirements
English is assessed as part of the application, and British Guardianship confirms the level required for each year of entry during placement. Aldro does not publish minimum English levels. Where a new pupil would benefit from EAL support, they usually receive a weekly one-to-one lesson covering speaking, reading, writing and listening, together with an introduction to British culture and values. Each EAL pupil is paired with an English-speaking buddy from the first day and has regular check-ins with their form tutor.
Child Student Visa
Students coming to the UK from overseas will usually need a Child Student visa. Aldro is a licensed Child Student sponsor on the UKVI register. The visa application itself is submitted by parents. Our Child Student visa guide explains the requirements and process, and families holding a British National (Overseas) visa can contact us for guidance on the BN(O) route.
UK Guardian Requirement
UK boarding schools generally require international boarders under 18 to have a UK guardian, and British Guardianship confirms each school's specific requirements as part of placement. For children of prep school age, a guardian close enough to collect them for exeat weekends, half terms and any unplanned absence is particularly important.
British Guardianship is AEGIS accredited and a BSA Certified Guardian, and can act as the nominated UK guardian for Aldro boarders. Our boarding school guardianship service covers regular contact with the school, travel coordination and accommodation with vetted host families during half terms, exeats and holidays, giving parents a single, reliable educational guardian in the UK.
To discuss UK guardianship for Aldro, book a free online consultation or apply for a nominated guardian.
Frequently Asked Questions
UK boarding schools generally require international students under 18 to have a UK-based guardian, and British Guardianship confirms Aldro's specific requirements as part of your application. The guardian acts on behalf of parents in the UK, is the school's point of contact in an emergency and looks after the student whenever they cannot be at school. We provide this as an AEGIS accredited boarding school guardianship service.
Whenever your child cannot stay at Aldro, for example during half terms, exeats or holidays when boarding houses close, they stay with one of our vetted host families. Every host family is visited in their home, provides professional and personal references and holds an Enhanced DBS check for all household members aged 16 and over. British Guardianship remains your child's educational guardian throughout every stay.
We have guardians available and ready to be assigned. The overall timeframe depends on how quickly the required paperwork is completed and communication with Aldro is finalised. As every case is different, timelines can vary, but we aim to make the process as smooth and efficient as possible.
Boarding school guardianship is charged per term and starts from £350, with host family stays, travel arrangements and other services added as your child needs them. Full details are on our guardianship fees page.
A UK student guardian must be a responsible adult, usually aged 25 or over, who lives permanently in the UK, speaks fluent English and is close enough to the school to respond quickly in an emergency; many boarding schools set a maximum travel time. The guardian must be contactable 24 hours a day and hold an Enhanced DBS check where they or their household host the student. Aldro may also ask for the guardian's details before the start of term and set additional requirements of its own. As an AEGIS accredited guardianship provider, British Guardianship meets these requirements on your behalf, with vetted guardians, Enhanced DBS checked host families and 24-hour emergency support.
Yes. Our boarding school admissions service supports international families through the application to Aldro, from choosing the right year of entry through to an offer and enrolment, with Child Student visa guidance and guardianship arranged alongside.
Disclaimer: Logo, images and videos are shown courtesy of Aldro and remain the property of their respective owners. British Guardianship is an independent AEGIS-accredited guardianship provider, and this page is not published or endorsed by Aldro. School information is provided as a general guide and may change.
