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Original poster

Income levels for bursaries/assisted places

55 replies

DebbieFiderer · 16/07/2015 16:23

I'm vaguely looking in to the possibility of DD going to an independent school for secondary as I think it would suit her (the right one would anyway!), but it wouldn't really be a possibility without significant assistance with fees. I've looked at a few local schools and they say they offer bursaries of up to 100%, obviously means tested; so far so good.

I had assumed that on our income level we would be good candidates for a bursary, however having looked at a couple of other schools a little further away (also more sought-after/prestigious, if that makes a difference), they are a little more specific about income levels for bursaries; one says that families with income above national average would be unlikely to get assistance, the other specifies £26,000 as a cut off for 100% bursary, so now I am wondering if that would be similar at other schools, in which case there is little chance we would get enough to make it a possibility :(

Does anyone know if this would be the case, or do schools vary quite significantly on this? We are in Surrey if that makes a difference.

OP posts:
Original poster
DebbieFiderer · 16/07/2015 17:43

Capital situation not an issue - we rent, have zero savings, one 10 year old car etc etc.

It's a few years off so difficult to work out how much we could afford as I am just starting a new career so not sure how far I will have progressed in that time. In reality though (especially since we have a younger child to factor in too, although we may feel a different school would benefit her), we couldn't afford more than about 20-30% of the fees, especially once you factor in uniform, buses, trips, lunches etc.

I will definitely look at scholarships as well, but they seem to be fairly minimal, and one school at least says that effectively any bursary awarded would be reduced by the amount of the scholarship.

How early is too early to contact bursars? DD is just going in to Y3.

OP posts:
EssexMummy123 · 16/07/2015 17:30

The bursar of each specific school would be the best person to ask.
Have you thought how much you could afford? e.g if you got x% bursary and paid the rest yourself.

Knowledgablebursaryadvise · 16/07/2015 17:29

Big not HG!!

Knowledgablebursaryadvise · 16/07/2015 17:28

IME level of earnings required to get a bursary very much varies from school to school. Without going into specifics we are both 40% tax payers I just tip over DH earns significantly more but we qualify at DC's for a substantial bursary (full boarding), at another school we wouldn't even get a look in. I"ll just add we are asset poor, we pay the fees from our salary
Secondly we also discovered when we first tried to find a school that gives generous bursaries that many make very grand claims on their websites especially when it comes to large bursaries but in reality only a few of the very wealthy often HG names actually regularly offer large/100% bursaries any more than once in a blue moon. You need to speak to the bursar in a large school or the head in a small one.
What about a scholarship although many now don't carry large financial rewards on their own you are often more likely to get a larger bursary if your DC is in receipt of a scholarship especially an academic one.

Waitingandhoping2015 · 16/07/2015 17:26

I don't know about income levels but be aware that many schools also take into account your capital situation, especially the equity in your house, so watch out for this potentially ruling you out also.

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