scholarships to private schools specifically aimed at state-educated pupils

Idespair I will be interested to know how you get on. I suspect may parents could claim that timings are bad. My DH would like to start a business but timings make this impossible. In fact 8 years ago he deliberately moved to a job which may not be somewhere he wishes to work till he retires to ensure financial security because of the school fees.

kitnkaboodle we are in a similar position to you, I sympathize. Our DD (younger child) has been awarded a scholarship and small top up bursary for a good local private school. However, the only cash assets we have are funding my business expansion - we cannot divert these as they are all we have to make it work. The timing could not be worse, but I have the impression from the bursar that we should be using this cash for making up the fees rather than employment - I disagree. Meeting with the HT next week and shall throw myself prostrate at his feet!

kitnk sounds as though your DS2's energy and activity would be an explanation why it was worth pursuing a boarding school for him and not for your DS1. The answer to your question -if the teaching in your state secondary school is rather good- is difficult for most to answer.
It is similar IMO with trying to quantify the cost benefit of an excellent university experience over a degree acquired by distance learning.

Personally I think it is only worth it for the top private schools particularly if you can keep going his extracurricular interests out if school and he is unlikely to be disengaged by the teaching at your local school.

"Shouldn't be a problem if OPs ds is as bright as she says. The superselectives here (Kent) don't have catchment areas"

Nope. No problem at all!

... But DS1 wouldn't be moving if DS2 went to boarding school.

(He might be a little put out ...)

moving house would be a bit unfair on already settled DS1. Moving to a boarding school would be unsettling too

Er- except for the teensy weensy matter of getting in.. Shouldn't be a problem if OPs ds is as bright as she says. The superselectives here (Kent) don't have catchment areas.

... And moving house would be a bit unfair on already settled DS1.

"Why don't you move to a grammar area and go for a super selective - you'll find some of them outdo some independent day schools and they are free!"

Er- except for the teensy weensy matter of getting in.............

I guess I never realised that fee-paying parents actually liquidated their assets, borrowed, spent savings/inheritances, did without pensions etc, just to pay fees. I just assumed that they were 'rich'!

If for nothing but that one sentence this has to be the most illuminating thread of the week.

Well said OP.

Why don't you move to a grammar area and go for a super selective - you'll find some of them outdo some independent day schools and they are free!

Tonbridge offer something like this, they pay for pupils to go to a local prep (think its Hilden Grange) for Y7 and 8

50K cash is not going to do you any favours when applying for any sort of bursary though

"Human beings are such contrary creatures. Fifty grand in the bank and a good school on the doorstep - but MN has whispered in your ear and spoilt it all"

Human beings are such contrary creatures. Fifty grand in the bank and a good school on the doorstep - but MN has whispered in your ear and spoilt it all.

Here's the deal. I'm guessing your local day school has local day school fees - so sacrificing your inheritance money seems a perfectly justifiable stricture. But it's hardly going to touch the sides at a boarding school. First year's fees, kit and general toing and froing will disappear it all quick sharp.

Luckily this is perfectly obvious to the relevant schools. Have you contacted E? Or any of the other big name boarding establishments? Do it now and you may hear some better news.

If you are so keen on private education why are you not using the £50k in the bank to fund it?

There are plenty of full fees payers who have virtually no savings who struggle to scrape the fees together from earned income. Is it fair that they should subsidise fees for someone with a nice lump of savings who just doesn't want to spend it?
Bursaries are limited and should be reserved for those who have no access to resources to fund fees.

I see no reason why you should get special consideration just because your son has attended state primary.

One of our local day schools has awards specifically for ha tenant families. They would normally apply at 11+ from state schools but they now pretest for 13+ entry in year 6/7 so it would still be a possibility. Maybe others offer similar elsewhere?

kitnk there are two points to consider IMO before continuing with this . First, you have to think about why your DS2 would benefit in particular from a boarding environment (since local independent schools are a dead-end). Being highly academic does n't always correlate with a desire to take advantage of extracurricular activities and being social. A boarding school would need to be persuaded of those reasons. Secondly should the outcome be positive there would be less to spend on your DS1. That is less of an issue if one DC has exceptional needs but if your DS1 is rather like your DS2 that makes it more difficult.
Sixth form entry aided places for state applicants are available in many top schools as mentioned previously and could be a possibility for both your DSs?

Radley's award is called the Foundation Award. They have one for 11+ entry, and another for 13+.

Im not sure £50k in the bank, a small mortgage on a modest three bed house and on a low income exactly makes you "asset rich" in the grand scheme of the thing). With boarding fees coming in at £35k, the £50k won't last long and people can only raise their mortgages to free up capital if they have sufficient income to do this.
Our friends had a £500k (no mortgage) 2nd home with rental income and they were probably earning more than the OP I can see why they were thought to be asset rich.

OP it strikes me from reading your comments that before you go much further you need to talk to the admissions dept/bursars of the various schools your interested in and see what their responses are.
I have listed quite a few who seem keen to take children from the "maintained sector" and that's just me quickly looking at websites and going in what I've heard said over the years there's probably more. Try as many as you can find. If I was you Id get on the phone to some ASAP before you miss key deadlines esp. for the Beckwith scholarship because that's starts from yr7.
The other thing is that competition for these very funded places is going to be fierce, children will be very well prepped by very ambitious parents (try and find the video about the Beckwith Scholarship you'll get a feel for what's expected), I suspect that most are looking for truly outstanding all rounders, you say your DS is good at math what about his English? I'm not trying to put you off but you do need to be aware of the requirements.
Good luck.

If you are looking for 13+ entry then you have just missed the pretest for most independent schools for Common Entrance intake. However as your son is at a state school his main point of entry would be 11+ and unfortunately you have missed that too. Generally that would be for a prep school for two years where he would probably learn Latin and or French etc to catch up with the other students. They also prepare him to then sit entry again for senior school. There are a couple of independent schools that offer scholarship/ bursary at year 8 but you would probably have to apply quite soon. Scholarships are generally offered for the kudos as the monetary value is usually very little. If you are asset rich then I doubt that you would have any luck with the bursars. Bursars are over run with bursary applications and generally have very strict guidelines to follow. The Head generally has the last say in agreeing if a student deserves a bursary. If your son is exceptional and I mean truely exceptional then a school may very well want him, but you will still have to pay if your assets and salaries amount to too much.

Rugby offers Arnold Foundation scholarships to pupils who would benefit from a boarding education from state school backgrounds. I think these are 100% of the fees and in some cases a school trip abroad is also included so the student doesnt feel excluded from activities the other students are enjoying. Some go at 13 and some after Gcse's.

I suppose the thinking is that many people who are paying full fees have sacrificed their assets to afford the fees and so the bursar (rightly) expect others to do the same before being eligible for a means tested bursary.
It would be pretty shit if they were giving bursaries to people with half a million pounds worth of assets which they don't want to release capital from or sell whilst they are turning down others for bursaries who have very small incomes and no assets. Most schools wouldn't expect somebody to release capital from the homes that they live in unless they can obviously downsize or have such a small mortgage that they could remortgage without financial difficulty.