Bursaries for independent schools

Do schools really publish which pupils receive bursaries?

Do you have to give consent for that as part of the means-testing process?

i've got children at private schools (bit of a stretch, hence dress like a tramp and never have exotic suntan and like many private school mothers). One of the things i've noticed is that children with bursaries seem to be enormously posh, more so than many of the fee paying bunch. maybe i'm imagining it. Has anyone else noticed that? Just wondering. Feel slightly suspicious that private schools only give them to people who they consider 'the right sort'.

amerryscot, I think your ethnicity is showing! :)

If you can't afford it, you can't afford it.

That depends, if there academic then yes a good grammar school is a great choice, but that's if you can get in. I'm sure our local grammar hes well over 600 applicants for 150 places.
Music, well unless its musical theater your into then you will find its not well catered for in state schools and you'll probable end up finding good teachers outside of school, which makes it an even longer day if you have to travel around to music teachers, music theory lessons and orchestras.
Private schools cater well for classical music and most seem to have very good teachers that come into school, not to mention all the orchestras, woodwind band, choirs, chamber choirs etc that a good private school has. We haven't had a holiday in a number of years, we have a tatty car and shop at Primark, but for me, I wouldn't change any of it because of the extra opportunity's it has given my child.

Hi, cluttered. These days only the outright rich can afford fees. That said, I'd warn you fairly strongly against putting choice of school above everything; it's very difficult to know from outside what they are really like, and they are not always worth the misery the fees can cause.

Hi Chooshoes as has already been said, there are a number of "optional" trips that they can do that would be "valuable" for certain GCSEs - eg Iceland for Geography, European Exchanges for MFLs, Battle fields for history, etc as well as the compulsory ones.

In addition there are the ski trips, which don't come in cheap - though as you quite rightly say you can brief your DD about before hand. As we all know peer pressure is hard and whilst it is hard to hear your child tell a friend that he can't do a particular activity because his parents can't afford it, it does make you feel proud of them.

Indie school uniform is much more expensive than state or even GS uniform - in many case ridiculously so - a friend has had to pay - over £30 for a school jumper and £90 for a blazer . I don't know about sports kit requirements for girls...

Music lessons and ballet aren't cheap either if your DD is interested in that.

I'm not against Indies at all - however it is always helpful to know a little about the hidden extras.

At dds school they have compulsory outward bound type trips for between 1-2 weeks, some just a week of day trips but this year it is 10 days residential. Costs are in the region of £200-£400 per year. We also have books & stationary to purchase (average over £100 per year). Some schools include this in fees. There are loads of optional trips such as language exchanges, geography field trips etc, but I think that these also happen in the state sector for similar costs.

[GULP] Yes I suppose peer pressure is an issue for the older kids. She'll have to be warned early on I suppose !!!

Sportsmum can you explain the other additional costs you talk about? I'm interested as i'm thinking of private secondary for my dd next year. I specifically asked the school about additional costs and was told the compulsary trips cost no more that £30 a turn approx 4 per year, obviously we can budget for the uniform but we thought that was it!

Additionally even with a bursary there are all the "compulsory" trips, uniform - the costs are ridiculously high and other additional costs that tend to creep in.

Its intrusive and hard work getting together all the information required for a bursary, I guess that might put quite a few people off. I think in the end it comes down to how much a particular school wants your child, if your child has a lot to offer and whether your child will benefit from all the opportunity's that particular school has to offer. It really is worth a try , as long as your child understands you may not be able to afford the fee's even if a bursary's is offered and you have a back up plan that your child is happy with, if they can't go to their chosen school.

Many people don't believe in private education, a lot of people don't know that bursaries are available and others find it very embarrassing to admit that they can't afford things.

Sorry - hate to ask silly q's but we are in a similar situation.

I don't understand why indipendent schools aren't flooded with applications from families who want a private education for their DC's but can't quite afford it. I live in central London and all the state schools close to me are pretty poor, there must be thousands of families on less than £40k who would be eligible for some sort of bursary living around here?

But bear in mind hat in these straightened times, priority may well go to children who have had several years in the school but whose families have suffered a downturn in income.

There are just so many variables.

When considering bursaries, schools are not just looking at the academic ability of the child, they are also looking at just how much the child AND the family can bring to the school...

Where we used to live in London, the roads nearest the most popular schools were nearly all rental properties that had high turnover, people would leave their home/rented place, rent for a while just to get into the schools and then move back again.

The property prices near those schools were also higher, though not sure how the price difference compared with private school fees.

"if we lived 5 miles away from here where the good school is we'd not be having this conversation...."

Move?

That's what we did (though in our case, a LOT further than five miles!)

Dustylaw that is very generous and it just shows how much different schools vary

twolittlemonkeys thats such a shame with your experience of the independent school system. My childs present school is fantastic and very nurturing, your son would have fitted in very well. Its great you have found the right school for him now.
I have another child that goes to a state school and its a perfect fit also.

Make sure that you are talking about income in the same way as the school. If you take a look at the link below, (City of London School for Girls, you can see that the income figure is a 'disposable income' figure which is pretty generous in taking into account all the things that reduce your gross salary figure.
www.clsg.org.uk/page/?title=bursaries&pid=76

I'm afraid its a rather laborious process of trawling through the Educational grants directory and finding appropriate trusts to write to. We had to do it for my child's present school which sadly my child finishes at this year as its a prep school. Raising the extra money this way is possible but is rather like a rollercoaster. Some of you might say why bother to send your child to an independent school when you can't afford it, sadly our state schools do not provide the specialist training musically talented children need. My child has been awarded a very generous scholarship and a bursary but this doesn't cover boarding.
Unless you are on a low income you are generally expected to contribute towards the fee's, which is fair.

ratherfedup, you should go back to the school and see if they can offer you a bursary. Sometimes the schools have a bit of discretion and can offer more, particularly if they want your child to attend, which obviously they do if they have already offered a very good scholarship (well done!). From experience the trusts that offer educational grants tend to only offer them for certain occupations and/or if your child is already at the school and perhaps in exam years.