Femi (ARUNA JALLOH), Jaheim (JOSH TEDEKU), Leah (JODIE CAMPBELL), Omar (MYLES KAMWENDO) and Toby (SEKOU DIABY) in Boarders series 1. (BBC/Studio Lambert)

Is Boarders Filmed At A Real School?

By Olivia Emily

4 hours ago

Inside the BBC’s hit comedy drama

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Femi (ARUNA JALLOH), Jaheim (JOSH TEDEKU), Leah (JODIE CAMPBELL), Omar (MYLES KAMWENDO) and Toby (SEKOU DIABY) in Boarders series 1. (BBC/Studio Lambert)

The BBC’s beloved boarding school comedy has just been renewed for a third and final season, set to air in 2026. The series centres on five Black teenagers – Jaheim (Josh Tedeku), Leah (Jodie Campbell), Omar (Myles Kamwendo), Femi (Aruna Jalloh) and Toby (Sekou Diaby) – who navigate a whole new world when they earn scholarships to the prestigious boarding school St Gilbert’s. But is St Gilbert’s a real school? And what will happen in Boarders series 3? Here’s everything you need to know.

Boarders Series 3: Plot, Cast, Filming Locations & More

Created by Daniel Lawrence Taylor (who also stars), Boarders may be made up of just 12 episodes across two series so far, but it has garnered a legion of fans across the board, with nominations at the Edinburgh TV Awards, the Venice TV Awards and the UK Broadcast Awards, with star Josh Tedeku scooping up the Breakthrough Award at the 2025 RTS Television Awards. Daniel describes Boarders as ‘a deeply personal project,’ adding ‘it’s been incredible to see how audiences have connected with the characters.’

‘Daniel’s fearless and sharp writing, as well as standout performances from our cast have meant that audiences have truly embraced our characters,’ adds Madeleine Sinclair on behalf of Boarders’ production company, Studio Lambert. ‘We cannot wait for everyone to see how their stories conclude: with humour, honesty, and a lot of heart.’

Femi (ARUNA JALLOH) and Omar (MYLES KAMWENDO) in Boarders series 1. (BBC/Studio Lambert)

What Will Happen?

Boarders series 3 will take us back to St Gilbert’s, where our band of London teens have returned for their final term. Exams are looming, and Jaheim, Leah, Omar, Femi and Toby are determined to achieve big. As their minds wander to life beyond boarding school, a rivalry erupts with a neighbouring school – which also happens to be the one Abby (Assa Kanouté) is now attending.

‘From day one, I wanted to create something funny, honest, and proudly Black,’ series creator Daniel says. ‘In this final term, I hope to finish their story as they face their final year with greater challenges, deeper friendships and the looming question of life beyond school.’

Expect new enemies, love interests and broken friendships as a fresh bath of problems threaten to jeopardise our central group of teens at the final hurdle. What will it take to ensure our scholarship kids come out on top?

Toby (SEKOU DIABY) & Jaheim (JOSH TEDEKU) in Boarders series 2. (BBC/Studio Lambert/Jonathan Birch)

Is St Gilbert’s A Real School?

As the title hints, Boarders is set in an elite boarding school called St Gilbert’s; think lush playing fields, leafy cloisters and complex social rules galore. Despite being one of the oldest, most prestigious schools in the country, St Gilbert’s is suffering a bit of a reputation problem in the wake of a problematic viral video involving a student. To rehabilitate itself, the school offers sixth form scholarships to five teenagers from inner city London: Jaheim, Leah, Omar, Femi and Toby. Our central band of teens are thrown in the deep end and, upon arrival at their new school-home, must navigate an alien world steeped in race, class, money and power politics, all while navigating more classic teenage angst, strife and romance.

St Gilbert’s isn’t a real school, though Boarders is indeed filmed at a real public school in Bristol called Clifton College. Take a peek inside below…

Dating back to 1862, Clifton College offers both boarding and day school for both boys and girls, with a range of academic scholarships available for prospective students – though nothing particularly in place for Black students like we see in Boarders. That said, there is some truth underpinning Boarders.

Is Boarders Based On A True Story?

Boarders may not be based on a true story, but the series creator Daniel Lawrence Taylor was ‘initially inspired by an article about a scholarship scheme for underprivileged young black boys,’ he tells the BBC. ‘There were quite a lot of parallels to my own experience at university which was predominately white and middle class.’

Daniel graduated from Royal Holloway, University of London in 2004, a time he describes as ‘an interesting experience for me and the handful of black students that went there’. ‘We all navigated our way in that world differently,’ he says. ‘That felt like a really cool thing to explore through a comedy-drama.’

Daniel was also inspired by the likes of Sex Education, Netflix’s bound-breaking, genre-defining teen comedy which kicked off in 2019. ‘One thing I love about that show is that it deals with sex, sexuality, relationships and all these big themes in a really cool and funny way,’ Daniel says. ‘I wanted to do a similar thing with Boarders where I could look at class, race and privilege but do it in a fun and comedic way.

‘I’ve also always loved films like Mean Girls and Superbad,’ Daniel adds. ‘All these coming of age comedies which are steeped in a lot of drama with things that we can all relate to.’