Best Residential Summer Camps In The UK

With its mild maritime climate and stunning outdoor scenery, the United Kingdom provides the ideal setting for children’s summer camps. Programs are available all over the land, from Stirling in historic Scotland or Snowdonia National Park in Wales to the vibrant cities of London and Oxford.

In many cases, traditional British boarding schools act as venues for these camps. This provides a one-of-a-kind experience, as well as the exceptional facilities you’d expect from leading education and travel providers. 

These UK summer camps for international students welcome them to enjoy a unique type of travel experience that they won’t get to enjoy if they just stay home during the summer.

Summer Camp	Location	Ages	Gender	Session Lengths
ISSFT	London, Oxford, Stirling	13-18	Coed	3 weeks
Learn & Experience	North Yorkshire	8-17	Coed	2-4 weeks
Camp Crusoe	Shadwell	8-15	Coed	1-4 weeks
Camp Wilderness	Multiple in England and Wales	8-16	Coed	3-5 days
Village Camps	York	10-17	Coed	2 weeks
Country Schools	Shaftesbury	8-17	Coed	2, 3, 5 weeks
XUK Camps	Wiltshire	8-17	Coed	1-5 weeks
Exsportise	Haywards Heath	9-17	Coed	1 week

ISSFT

The International Summer School for Teens (ISSFT) offers English-speaking summer camps in three UK locations. Their programs are open to students ages 13 to 18. Each is university-based and thus serves as the ideal introduction to college life.

The locations you can send your teen to are Imperial College London the prestigious University of Oxford in England, and the University of Stirling in historic Scotland. 

Whichever you choose, you can expect your child’s journey to match their interests and goals perfectly, as each program is individually tailored. Their schedule will include a mix of academic teaching, stimulating entertainment and activities, and elective subjects encompassing the arts, culture, and sports. 

Programs run for three weeks, with one session per summer in London and Oxford and two in Stirling. A vast array of activities, day trips, workshops, challenges, and evening entertainment is available at each location, from Stratford-upon-Avon near Oxford to the Harry Potter Studios north of London or the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow from Stirling.

Learn & Experience

Learn & Experience (L&E) operates summer camps as well as teen travel programs for kids 8 to 17. The World Camps specifically are open to 8 to 15 year olds, and are operated in Canada in addition to the UK. 

With L&E, it’s all about providing a personalized experience for each individual attendee. The two-week camps run back-to-back, so you can book your child for four weeks. Travel programs are for older teens up to 17. 

The UK venue for L&E camps is a private prep school in North Yorkshire. It lies close to the North Yorkshire Moors and the Yorkshire Dales, providing the perfect outdoor playground as well as a prestigious academic setting. 

A packed daytime and evening activities program keeps children busy between dawn and dusk, while the weekend trips out allow them to explore northern England. A highlight of the school facilities is the heated indoor swimming pool, which kids are free to use daily. 

The activities available include adventure, creative, and sporting pursuits, with an option for a 2-day Wilderness Experience covering survival skills.

Camp Crusoe

Open to ages 8 to 15, Camp Crusoe is set in the glorious English countryside. The focus is on providing a fun experience while children grow confident and mix with peers from varied backgrounds. Valuable social skills are learned here as kids form friendships and participate in camp games and events. 

This OFSTED-registered facility can offer your child a retreat from modern life. Campers can have lots of fun spending time outdoors. There are four sessions per summer, each running between Sunday and Saturday. 

Camp Crusoe is located at the Thetford Forest Park, which offers wooden cabins set among the many trees. Having spacious grounds, there’s plenty of opportunity for playing and enjoying nature while staying in cabins. The camp counselors act as positive and supportive role models. 

Kids who attend Camp Crusoe can participate in a range of activities with crafts, drama, photography for creative types, caving, kayaking, and high ropes for the sporty campers. There are also unique pastimes such as the SAS experience and swimming.

Camp Wilderness

The motto for Camp Wilderness is “Rewild Your Child”. So if you want to give your offspring an outdoor experience like no other, Camp Wilderness’s four themed programs are well worth a look. Camp Wilderness stands out as they offer shorter 3 to 5-day themed experiences rather than general summer programs. 

Themes revolve around Explorer, Coastal Expert, Mountain Adventurer, or Thrill Seeker and each is open to 8 to 16-year-olds. They include complete immersion in the natural environment of northern, central, and southern England, plus Pembrokeshire and Snowdonia in Wales. 

Sessions are hosted May half term as well as the summer. All camps last a couple of days, so they can act as the ideal introduction to camp life. The team in charge share their genuine enthusiasm for the outdoors with children throughout, getting them off-grid and back to nature.

Village Camps

Queen Ethelburga’s College is half an hour’s drive from the historic city of York and provides outstanding amenities. Six themed summer camps are available to those between 10 and 17. Activities revolve around adventure, football, horse riding, golf, and performing arts. 

Village Camps structure each day around program-specific activities in the mornings. Then, during the afternoons, kids from different two-week programs join forces to enjoy a range of general camp activities that take place both on and off campus. 

The Village Camps at Queen Ethelburga’s College include assault and survival skills courses, team-building games, riverside hikes, and water challenge sessions. Youth can also head off-site to take part in abseiling, canoeing, rock climbing, and more. The camp-out under the stars is generally regarded as the highlight of the fortnight.

Country Schools

Country Schools have children hone their English language skills in a stunning southern England setting. They operate at Dorset’s prestigious Port Regis boarding school, only a couple of hours southwest of London. 

This English language and activity summer school is British Council accredited and focuses on personal and social development as well as English language proficiency and exam preparation. Summer programs involve campers living together in boarding houses and placed according to age and gender. 

Operating throughout July and August, the maximum duration is up to 5 weeks. Sustainability is at the heart of the holistic program throughout, and students learn about environmental issues, use energy generated by solar panels, and spend much of their time among nature. 

As well as perfecting their English language skills, your children can explore England via day trips, play tennis or golf, and participate in a whole host of activities including cookery, drama and music.

XUK Camps

XUK operates a variety of day and residential camps for kids and teens ages 8 to 17 with their English Summer School, Multi Activity Summer Camp and Elective Summer Camp which are all OFSTED-registered. 

The two residential summer camps are based in Wiltshire, England, at Dauntsey’s School, a historic educational institution dating back to 1542. Programs commence in early July, and kids can attend for one and five weeks. With 150 acres, it’s a spacious and very welcoming setting. 

The Multi Activity Summer Camp is divided into three groups, according to age – Juniors, Intermediates, or Teens. The principal aim is to ensure each attendee has the best summer of their young lives. 

The XUK Excel elective camp offers children the chance to continue with one favorite activity or switch to different ones each week as they wish. Dauntsey’s exceptional amenities include a heated indoor swimming pool, a dance studio, and astroturf pitches.

 

Exsportise

Exsportise English summer schools offer children the chance to focus on two key strands. They can develop their English skills while also benefiting from 15 weekly hours of dance, music, or sports instruciton. This is coupled with 15 hours of English language teaching and practice. 

Staff reside at the camps, and there’s a ratio of one staff member to every four students. The programs accept students from all over the world aged between 9 and 17 to their facilities that reside in boarding schools.

One of Exsportise’s key selling points is its exclusive Arsenal football academy camps, where youngsters can learn to “play the Arsenal way”. These have been designed and are delivered by Arsenal Football Development and Arsenal Football Development Coaches respectively. 

Other sporting opportunities include basketball, golf, hockey, horse riding, rugby, and tennis, in addition to dance and music.