sorry to bump this....but I was reading back through....I started at 8 then from 11 to 18 boarded when I wanted/needed to....school was only an hour away from home but in the middle of the peak district making access during bad weather very difficult. Plus the fact our school days were very long...some days I would start at 8.30 and not finish till 6.45....by the time you've added an hour on to each end of that it's hardly worth the hassle, and the money saved on travel and stuff paid most of the boarding