Private school bursaries / entry exams

Savvy_Sue

Just be aware that the academic pressure can be intense and doesn't suit all children.

I would also investigate uniform costs (which may not be covered) and bear in mind that any extra curricular activities may also be chargeable. 

theoretica

silly_moo said:

sheramber said:

Is there nothing on the  website for the school you are intrested in

e.g.
https://www.gwc.org.uk/admissions/financial-support

https://www.gwc.org.uk/admissions/financial-support

You should be able to get a prospectus from the school , which might give the information.

No, the website is very vague, doesn't give any earnings limit etc, only that bursaries up to 100% are available. I was at the school at the open day and staff in the admissions/fees tent said I should email for more info. I asked to arrange a meeting, they said the Bursar was busy. I emailed asking for a meeting and they just quoted the website. 

Did you email with your specific question you need an answer to?  Which could presumably be answered with much less time than a meeting would need.

Our family income is X, we could not afford the fees without a bursary, is it worth our child sitting the exam?

Spendless

silvercar said:

Sometimes the bursary conditions are linked to ability ie they may be prepared to offer a bursary if your child is musically gifted or similar. Some schools would offer scholarships with those criteria, but above that the bursary system may offer more help to those who just missed out on scholarships.

^^^ is what my local private school is like. I composed a reply along these lines this morning but then thought what if not all schools operate that way and didn't post.

I know several children that attend/ed our local private school and their parents. The school website is just as vague as you're describing (it's not the same one, I'm in England). For students going into yr7 they sit the entrance exam inc their own pupils. There are then scholarships on offer for Academics, Sport, Music, Art and Performing Arts. If awarded a scholarship then knocks 10% off the fees (a drop in the ocean!) but then if offered a scholarship the school then looks at household income to see if they will also apply a bursary to further reduce the fees. (I know kids who have been offered one of the scholarships there). Though the school's website does say that a small number of bursaries are awarded by the school according to need and that one or two places annually may be awarded free of charge, in reality I can't see that being awarded to a newcomer 'just' because the parent/s can't afford it otherwise. Not unless the child had a big 'something' to offer the school but in that case they are more likely to have received the scholarship for the area that the school is looking to award in and a bursary then been looked at after that.

I also suspect that my local schools 1 or 2 places annually foc happens only occasionally and when it's a pupil they really want to keep for some reason. Now this *might* be the reason you're not getting anywhere asking questions because the school prefers to be vague that what they say on their website is a bit of a smoke and mirrors situation.

I'm going to suggest read thru the replies on here, then go back and read the school's website, see if you can read between the lines of what they're saying.

I'd also say don't dismiss the state schools. I sent both mine to my local secondary that I'm an ex pupil of (we all got on so well we had 5th reunion this year - attended by both former pupils and teachers). My kids didn't get the same experience. It's Ofsted outstanding grade was gained when my son was in his 2nd year there under a head that retired 8 months later. 2 more useless heads later and it's never been re-inspected and my now 20yo suffers from MH problems from her time there. I truly never believed you could make a child ill by sending them to school but here I am. Go and have a look around some state options too. . 

silvercar

Logically it doesn’t make sense to offer large bursaries to anyone that asks based purely on income. The point of a private school is that you pay to attend. Unless you can offer something that makes you child particularly attractive to the school or have some connection then why would they offer a bursary? I suspect bursaries are for those gifted or talented in an area that isn’t covered by the scholarships available or for someone that nearly reached scholarship level. Alternatively they have some connection to the school eg a parent or older sibling attended or there is a link to a parents profession. I can see the logical of giving temporary help to someone who will be able to afford fees in due course, or alternatively a pupil already in the school whose family have fallen on hard times.

Imagine if everyone on a low income in an area with a poor state school asked for a bursary, it just doesn’t make sense.

theoretica

There is a difference between everyone with income under X gets a bursary and we have 3(or £Y total or whatever) bursaries which you need to earn under X to be considered for.  The second of these is the more usual case.

onomatopoeia99

theoretica said:

silly_moo said:

sheramber said:

Is there nothing on the  website for the school you are intrested in

e.g.
https://www.gwc.org.uk/admissions/financial-support

https://www.gwc.org.uk/admissions/financial-support

You should be able to get a prospectus from the school , which might give the information.

No, the website is very vague, doesn't give any earnings limit etc, only that bursaries up to 100% are available. I was at the school at the open day and staff in the admissions/fees tent said I should email for more info. I asked to arrange a meeting, they said the Bursar was busy. I emailed asking for a meeting and they just quoted the website. 

Did you email with your specific question you need an answer to?  Which could presumably be answered with much less time than a meeting would need.

Reminds me of my work. I don't talk on the phone and mostly WFH, people that ring the office asking to talk to me are told to email their questions, so I get emails saying "I have some questions, please call me on 07........" or  "can we jump on teams?" (over my dead body).

The OP should just ask their questions by email.

silvercar

theoretica said:

There is a difference between everyone with income under X gets a bursary and we have 3(or £Y total or whatever) bursaries which you need to earn under X to be considered for.  The second of these is the more usual case.

So how are those 3 selected? I would guess the family has some connection to the school or the child is particularly gifted in something or there is a particular story.

DeLaSole

Our family's experiences at 2 different schools and my knowledge of about a dozen other families (covering 4 schools and a 30+ year time-span) is that full bursaries, nevermind partial ones, are most definitely awarded to newcomers.

It's also been the case that being high ranked in the exam was crucial - playing a sport/instrument does no harm in support of the application but it was the academic side first and foremost. As said, depending on the school, separate scholarships may be available for gifted musicians etc. rather than the usual bursary side of things, though some of those may max out at say 25% of fees.

_Penny_Dreadful

silly_moo said:

My child will be going to senior school next year and we're looking at various options. I'd really like him to get a good quality education and our local high school is not very good, so I've been looking at private schools, hoping we can get a decent (80%+) bursary. Sadly there's very little information on the schools' websites, and email enquiries have not been very helpful either.

Does anyone know what is taken into consideration for bursary awards? What kind of earnings limit would you expect? I'm in Scotland if that helps.

Also, there's an entry exam, part of it is a verbal reasoning test. Are there any websites we can use to practice, or any books you'd recommend? 

The criteria are a bit woolly and take several different factors into account. For example, the private school in Scotland a few of my friends attended, says that with a joint household income of £65k+ you’re unlike to get a bursary. Unlikely but not impossible. Success is also very dependent on how your child performs in the entrance exam. 

Another well know private school in Scotland can offer financial assistance if household income is between £36k and £64k with financial assistance covering some but not all of the fees. Only households with an income of below £36k are eligible to be considered for 100% of the fees being covered. Of course that is just the financial criterion, other factors are also taken into account. 

Every school is different but based on those two examples I’d say once the household income exceeds £60k you’re going to find even just partial funding more challenging.  Are the schools you’re interested in holding any open days where you might be able to find out more information? 

Perhaps the best course of action would be to get your child enrolled and prepared to sit the entrance exam as those exams may be coming up very soon for pupils hoping to join the school in the next academic year. 

silly_moo

Malthusian said:

silly_moo said:

They are responding to emails, but they claim there are no criteria and that each family's financial circumstances are looked at before a decision is made. That's not helpful though, I'd like to know if we've at least got a chance of bursary before paying admission fees.

Are they really saying they charge a fee just to sit the entrance exam?

Surely an "admission fee" is payable on admission, i.e. if he starts, not if you go elsewhere after deciding the fees (minus any bursary offered) are too much.

All schools that I looked at charge an admin fee to process the application form. It might not be called admission fee but it's a fee nonetheless.