Before mid term / term break, students will provide the flight information to their matrons. School will then allocate students to the relevant coaches, big or small coach depends on number of students and arrival time. children may prefer to return as a group as they can chat play etc during the 2+hours drive. There should be other students travelling together with your son in the same flight and they will usually find a cafe like costa to kill time while waiting for the school coach. You can ask the house master for more details
technically yes because your son should have the entrance code of the house, but you should confirm with the house master to make sure there is someone there, why doesn't he join the group to return with other students in the same coach
not the top academic results school but school with support, generally good parental support, good boarding life and lot of activities, upper form students supportive to junior students, limit of time in using mobile phones and computers