A few days ago, in a typically cluttered politician’s office in the heart of Westminster, 16-year-old Martha Sharp and Lord Andrew Adonis met for the first time. 

At first glance, you might struggle to see what the two have in common. But, Martha and Andrew share a common experience - they both spent years of their childhood in the UK’s care system, before gaining a place at an esteemed boarding school. 

Martha, growing up in Brighton and in and out of care placements, dreamt of attending the sort of boarding school she’d read about in her favourite books - Harry Potter and Malory Towers. Aged 11, with the help of her deputy headteacher, she applied for a place at Christ’s Hospital School, in West Sussex. 

“Nobody really believed I’d get it. It was just something on the side. And then I did, and it was the biggest shock of my life,” recalls Martha. 

Boarding school background

Andrew, too, was granted his boarding school place aged 11. The manager of his children’s home persuaded Camden, his local authority at the time, to pay the fees for him to attend Kingham Hill School in Oxfordshire. 

Andrew says: “It felt like moving from the 1970s to the 1870s - and in some respects it was. But there were lots of boys from similar backgrounds to mine.”

In this exclusive footage, the two share their experiences at these revered schools discuss what could be done to support children currently in our care system. They ask: are boarding schools the key to tackling social mobility in our country?

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