AbstractThe standing spin‐wave spectrum is analysed for the uniaxial ferromagnetic thin film with nearest‐neighbour and next‐nearest‐neighbour exchange interactions. The boundary conditions are described in terms of the uniaxial surface anisotropy. It is found that the nnn exchange interactions give rise to new types of bulk and surface spin‐wave modes. The properties of the new modes are discussed in their dependence on both, nnn coupling and surface anisotropy p