Income levels for bursaries/assisted places

Baby mind
I moved out of London to lower my outgoings . It just depends what's on the table , I was grateful to get this offer for ds , his also a weekly boarder so I'm saving money on housing him so it balances out kinda . Regardless us mums will always find the money my ds is in a class of 16 so to me it's worth every penny ????

State grammar for us would have meant a house move due to travel times, so never even entered. Ditto, dd did two, but one only a smallish one that I doubted had the funds for significant bursaries, but worth a shot. Got offered both so smaller ( and therefore not an option) bursary at second choice didn't matter.
I just found it really unfair that of all those that tried for them alongside her, most won't have been offered any and won't all have good back up state schools. Especially one local girl who I know is going to the possibly worst local school for any able child, and short of a lottery win has no choice.

Yes, I agree it is better that they are catering for some talents rather than none and if I had a musically gifted child I would absolutely look into a DOfE funded place at a specialist school.
We were in the position of being offered a place at a state grammar in a neighbouring county (within reasonable commutable distance but significantly over 3 miles), we would have had to fund transport costs ourselves. As it happened we were offered bursaries at two independent schools both closer than the state grammar and one offered a travel grant along with the bursary.

Agreed super. Knowing the state school dd would be offered was completely inappropriate I researched whether I'd have any legal grounds to fight for a place at the nearest suitable one, or any avenue to force the unsuitable comp to make reasonable provision, and discovered I had no chance, it hinged on a bursary. And although not applicable near here I've heard if you attend the nearest grammar in a non selective area it's not considered the nearest suitable school for transport help etc. So seems a bit unfair the d of e will fund music.
However at least they're still catering for some talents which is better than none.

I really don't understand the DofE funding at Chethams. Obviously I understand how it works but what I don't understand is how the govt are funding the places when they ceased the assisted place funding for gifted and able children to attend independent schools a long time ago. Surely it would be cheaper to provide music enrichment within state schools than to fund places at Chethams or other music specific schools.
Fair play to anybody whose child gets a place at Chethams though.

I've just looked at the Chethams bursary scale - surely a family earning £70,000 pa would find it much easier to fund bursary reduced fees for one child of £6,254 (day) and £8,487 (boarding) than a family earning only £40,000 pa to fund £2,412 and £3,189? What is the logic here;to allow for 2 or 3 dc?
A 'Freudian slip' in your earlier post Knowledgable !

If you look on the Chethams Music School website under fees (can't link it in) they detail the amount payable for boarding in relation to income. Interestingly it's almost identical to what we are paying for our DC at a different full boarding school.

Babymind, as far as I know from what they have told me. They have more than one child which the school takes into account. I know the mother was just returning to work after extended maternity leave. I don't know how big their mortgage is!

Teddingtonmum1
your income similar to me but why you pay 1/3 of the fee,for me its quite alot for that income if only one person work and pay that on top? Can you manage for that? even I pay 10% on top ,I find it quite hard for that and something else like extra curriculum ,after school ect.
why each schools have quite vary for the slide scale to award the %

any other example to share

Swimmingwithsharks
the family with income 100k pa with morgate get 100% bursary? Is it true? As you mention about one family you talked to.They are not looking at the asset they have for the equity foR the property.?
mine ,I am renting and with low income but get 90% bursary ,I dont really know why its very different .

I spend 1/3rd of my income towards fees ( income around 30k ) , but in order to make it affordable I sold my property & moved out of London bought something cheaper but there's just me & my ds so no one else to consider in order to lower my outgoings. Just been reassessed and have received same bursary just with the % rise so gone up about £300 pa.

Yes, I was thinking along the lines of a British DC with parents overseas and not a non-UK citizen from overseas.
Although the latter obviously can apply for scholarships etc.

Probably should have clarified I was thinking more of a British child being classed as overseas due to a uk employed parent being posted elsewhere would probably be equally entitled, rather than random non nationals or parents not employed by the uk

I think it would be highly unusual to give a bursary to an o/s student. The exception might be if they met other criteria such as forces or parents being officials in a religion to which the school had an affiliation. Bursaries are designed to give opportunities to pupils who might not otherwise be able to access them due to financial or social constraints. Often they top up scholarships, so become selective, and funds are finite so it might be decisions as to whether to award one 50% or two 25%. Scholarships might be specifically designated for o/s candidates but usually based on academic and perhaps social criteria ie. They bring some trait of particular benefit to the school community and probably more common at 6th form.

I haven't ever heard of an overseas student being in receipt of a bursary at a British independent school (they could exist but I am not aware of them). It would be quite difficult for the school to establish parental income properly if the family live overseas and they obviously wouldn't be able to do a home visit.
Overseas students do attend British independent schools and sometimes live with British families whilst they do so but I can't imagine that this in itself could give rise to a successful bursary application.
It wouldn't really sit well if schools are allocating funds to overseas students when there isn't even enough to go around British families who don't have enough income to pay fees.
Some countries do have specific funds available to send some students to British independent schools (in particular the boarding schools) but those funds come from their own country and not from the school.
It would be interesting to have some clarification on the issue though. I couldn't find anything on the Internet.

No, but I know dds day school has overseas pupils living with guardians so I'd assume they were also allowed to apply for ( or could infact have) bursaries same as anyone. And I'm pretty sure the bursary applications we did had the standard 'have you/ the child been resident out of the UK' and 'if so give details' that applications for many other things do so I suspect there's unlikely to be a blanket ban, especially for boarding.

Just out of curiosity, anyone from overseas on a bursary?

That's why I mentioned boarding above. The possibilities are on an entirely different scale.

Similar for us superexcited that's why I thought I should balance it out, didn't want someone on £50k thinking they'd be above bursary at a boarding school, or wondering why they've heard of people on very large incomes getting them.
Also even at day schools if you're paying full fees for the older child that's taken into account when deciding entitlement for a younger sibling, or at least that's the case at the ones we looked at.

Good point about boarding bursaries being different lurked. We only considered day schools and the cut off income point for any level of bursary was between £42k and £55k (depending on the school). The fees at those schools are between £11k and £12k. Obviously a boarding school with fees of £30k would have very different income thresholds for bursary eligibility.

Probably worth noting there's also a big difference in the bursary offered depending on the fees, especially with the different cost between day and boarding

Ha! I don't know about that, 1 is quite delightful and obviously (just from everyday conversation) extremely clever, another is also extremely clever. Quite a few of the others were tutored for a very long time. The majority of them are not in the top tier independent schools. By the sounds of it the ones in the second/third tier independents had to work very hard to get there and the ridiculously clever one made it into the top tier independent with minimal prep ( and magnificent charm and a bag full of luck probably!)

Magnificently charming children?

I have met a few families with a child or children getting significant bursaries for their schooling. One family has two working parents in professional jobs, the father full time and the mother part time. Their joint income is £100,000pa. They have a mortgage. One child is on a 90% bursary and another who attends a different school has a 70% bursary. Apparently the bursar took into account the number of children in the family and the usual accounts. Family number 2 are mortgage free, 1 working parent with 1 child on 100% bursary. The school have hinted that if their other children pass the academic hoops that they would be suitable for further bursary assistance for them. Family number 3 have 2 parents in employment. Joint family income is £70,000pa. They have a mortgage and 1 child on 100% bursary and 2 others on 50% bursary. Family number 4 have no mortgage, 1 parent working and 1 child with 100% bursary. Each family said that the bursar reassured them that the bursary was theirs for the entire time that the child was in the school unless there was an enormous change in thir economic situation ( or the child didn't progress as anticipated!).

Thank you lurked and super. Much appreciated. Seems like the bursar is the one who can give a definitive on this.