ACS International School Cobham

"Our children attended from 1977 - 1981. No boarding, at that time...but, fantastic educators. My husband, along with some others, organised the Boy Scout troop. He took the lads to a camp in Germany..also, the Walton Firs Camp flew our American flag. Loved ACS Cobham!!"

"I attended ACS from 1977 to 1981. Loved every minute."

"ATN Cars drivers provide Airport transfers from Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted ,Luton airports and long distance transfers to students and parents at ACS international School. School site is well guarded and well organized. It is easy to drop off students near to the admission centre so they do not have to drag their luggage for a long distance."

"From a student's perspective, who attended over a decade ago, I did not particularly like my time at this school. To a large extent, I admit this was down to me. Having come from a state school, I found the switch to an exclusive private school a big culture shock and very unsettling. A lot of the children here have very wealthy parents; by wealthy, I mean the 0.01%. This is a level of wealth most ordinary parents have never come across; the houses you see in the private estates of Cobham, Esher, Weybridge and Walton, where many of the school's students live, are the type you see in movies when they portray Beverly Hills. This inevitably leads to feelings of inferiority for the children of middle class parents who are not multi-millionaires. As the picture of wealth created here is so unreflective of the wider world, it also means that many children inevitably have a hard time (re-)adjusting to the real world once they go to university. I'm sure every private school has this issue to an extent, but found it extreme at ACS. Secondly, I found there to be a fairly large drug problem in my year while I attended the school. Again, I know this occurs at every school, and in every school a child can fall in with the 'wrong crowd'; it just so happens that it happened to me and therefore coloured my experience of the place negatively. The above two points being made, it is undeniable that the facilities are second to none. It is also true that the teaching staff were of very high quality. It was a good school then and I'm sure is now. Children going in with the right mindset can certainly reap the benefits in academics and sports, and can make valuable connections with people you would otherwise never meet or have access to (if that sort of thing is important to you). However, particularly for students that are more immature, I found it is also fairly easy to get lost in such an environment, especially for those expected to eventually stand on their own two feet. If you are a middle-class parent considering the school, my recommendation would be to take great care to explain to the child that this a unique environment that presents unique opportunities but is not reflective of the wider world. Personally, I would have much preferred to go to a normal state college."

"I have been at this school for 12 years as a student. It goes from ages 4-18. It has great sport facilities and sport programs. It has both IB and AP. It is international school and has many students and teachers form all over the world. It also has dorms. Highly recommended"