Non-existent bursaries

Mine has a place with a 95% bursary for September for yr7. She's bright and an all round good egg, but not exceptional (obv she is to me but I mean academically!)

So YABU!

OP there is perhaps a little bit of misinformation here, yes some schools do require you to sit the entrance exam and use the exam to the look out for the exceptionally bright kids who would never be able to afford the school normally but not all do. Some usually the super selective s offer bursaries to all who are offered a place not the those who’ve achieved the highest marks and some do offer bursaries outside of the usual entry point a lot depends on how much money is in the bursary bank account and how many apply for it. The point I’m trying to make OP is that you need to have conversation with the individual bursars at any school you might be interested in and find out how they organise bursaries what they are looking for and how big the average bursary is.
I personally don’t think you’ve come across as grabby you like many I suspect you took what was written on a schools website as gospel and thought that they genuinely meant that they offered large bursaries to all.

They’d be on shaky ground to lie about this. As others have said you haven’t approached it in the normal way. My daughter is in receipt of a near full bursary as are several others in her year (yr 7) v unlikely you’d get one after yr 7 and there is a massively long process to get one - including crucially taking an entrance exam ! They use the exams to look out for exceptionally bright kids who would never be able to afford the school normally

And I'd also agree that being less easily offended and more determined to press forward would help.

It's a shame communication with these schools hasn't been great and that you are outside of the normal cycle of admissions now. You do sound as if you'd missed the entrance exams for 13+ entry - those exams will have been a while ago and your queries probably came after they had offered their places and bursaries. If you'd missed 11+ entry, 13+ might have been a possibility, but 16+ will now be the next likely point.

With 16+, get visiting those schools whilst in Yr 10 - do visit first and speak to bursar in person or on phone if poss - websites can only give limited info, but a bursar will be able to ask about your circumstances and give you more accurate info for your own circumstances. They will want you to have visited to have shown genuine interest.

I agree that OP simply hasn't understood how bursaries work, or read up enough on it. Most school websites make clear that bursaries are available at the key points of entry -11+, 13+ and 16+. They make clear that you don't just write to say you'd like one, but go through the normal application process - you need to pass the entrance exams first at a high level, to be considered for a bursary.

I can see that the lack of response was not helpful. It has made Op cross and feel anatagonistic towards the school. In terms of schools wanting to broaden access, they need to be able to deal with people who don't understand how the system works and respond to them. However, it is possible that the emails were sent to the general school address and not the correct people and that perhaps they did get lost in the system.

Larger schools, which are usually those that offer more and bigger bursaries are probably more able to respond to and used to dealing with people who haven't read all the website info or fully researched bursaries as a topic, than the tiny independents who often can't afford much in the way of bursaries, don't have an outreach programme or respond to many queries.

Op, if you are serious about getting a bursary - read up on it. Look at MN, plus some of the bigger name schools to see what they say. Consider if your DC would entering at a point where bursaries are given.
If you have questions, email the bursar at the schools you are interested in, saying you are new to this and would like to know more.

Remember, bursary funding is usually limited and over subscribed. Most people who would like a bursary won't get one, if get a big enough one to make it possible. They tend to be given to very bright children and those with lots to offer.

Op, move beyond being annoyed about it all and look into it a bit more to see if it might be possible. Your DC might be just what schools are looking for, or the timing and circumstances may mean he's not.

We certainly didn’t find schools weren’t interested in children who only have one string to their bow. We found that a very high academic ability trumps everything else no one could care less that my DS’s were not musical or had any particular talent for sport.
You need to pick your school carefully those that market themselves as ideal for all rounders probably are looking talented alrounder when dividing out their bursary purse.
Super selective academic schools where sport etc is defintely not high on their priority list will want to give bursaries to super academic pupils an outstanding sporting ability will be an added bonus but not essential.
Pick your school OP that matches your DD’s ability and talent.

I think OP was not familiar with applying to private schools at all, let alone outside the main admissions rounds.

Bursary funds will be fully allocated each year, and will mainly be spent on new joiners at the main rounds and on those already in the school who may have run into financial crisis.

If OP still has any appetitive for these schools. Then she needs to begin again, by visiting the school and working out which school is right for her DD and to which her DD will bring something that the school is looking for (not necessarily just academic level, though that is key for some, but might also be sport, drama, all rounder, exceptional achievement in some other field).

Then you need to call the admissions office and ask for a conversation with someone who can tell you about likely availability of an ad hoc place (even when schools are not full. They may not admit after the start of year 10, for example), how to apply, what assessments take place, and when and how to apply for a bursary.

In theory, schools should of course respond to every single enquiry, but if course in practice things go wrong. It is spectacularly unlucky for OP that she encountered difficulty at 3 separate schools. But I think some of it may be down to misunderstanding and not, I hope, ill-will on either side

Or what gruach said!

I would also suggest though that schools are less interested in children that only offer one string to their bow, as it were. Scholarships and bursaries are likely to go to those that are very academic and gifted in music, sports, art as well.
Certainly all the schools we investigated were far more interested in what the DC did outside the classroom- they can very easily judge from the entrance exam where children lie academically. Quite simply if two children score outstandingly on the entrance exam, and one is grade six on two instruments or(/and!!) plays for a county sports team too... guess which one is a more attractive prospect for the school?

and they do not all select hyper academic children for bursaries.

This is delightfully true. (May not matter to the OP now - but just in case anyone’s interested ...) Obviously the more academic the school the more they’ll demand of people wanting to join - but where they are able to exercise some discretion I’ve known schools to place just as much emphasis on more nebulous qualities. Boarding schools particularly (perhaps) want boarders who will add to the sparkiness and stimulation of living in a community. And are quite likely to reject a super-bright child who simply couldn’t thrive in a boarding environment. So gregariousness, originality and independent thought may be just as valuable as off-the-scale musical ability or whatever.

(All schools differ, of course.)

Nobursarymum it would be helpful if you could give a rough idea of the area you are looking in (without being too specific) so that anyone with first-hand experience can give you advice on specific schools. Btw I don't think you come across as remotely 'grabby' - It doesn't take much time or effort for a school to explain their procedures for awarding bursaries. Not responding to emails is just rude and thoughtless, potentially making the 'supplicant' feel small and undeserving. As other posters have remarked, the bigger and better known a school is, the more likely they are to have a more professional approach plus a bigger pot of money, and they do not all select hyper academic children for bursaries.

Sorry, ignore me-missed a whole chunk of the thread.

Very few private schools offer 100% bursaries. Often s holarships and bursaries are part of the windowdressing but very small %ages. Sorry you had to find this out the hard way.

Do you have specific issues with her current school you could address?

It could be that they don't offer them at non standard entry points, only to those already at the school whose circumstances change or that funds are already allocated. Some will only use them to boost scholarships. Bursaries are usually managed by the bursarial department not admissions.

I realised from the outset that as we needed a significant fees reduction the chances were that we would not be successful.

You kinda need a more positive attitude! Serendipity plays a part in the process - it’s a matter of finding exactly the school that thinks your child is a perfect fit for them. At which point everything might fall into place relatively easily. Don’t bother banging your head on the brick wall of anywhere that clearly isn’t interested.

And, actually, it might be as well to show an interest in the school, first. You would not be wasting anyone’s time - decent schools are interested in attracting the right pupils and will offer what they can if that makes attendance possible (not just desirable).

You sound very grabby, to put it in Mumsnet-speak.

I've known students attend private school on 100% bursary, but they were kids on course for all A* GCSEs, with household income circa £12k.

It was also normal for parents to express interest a year in advance, with entrance exams/student visit days in January, for September entry. Normally kids sit the exams first, visit the school, interview with the Head/DH, join in a PE lesson, audition for the music teacher etc etc, then start talking about bursaries.

The bursary system - if I may call it that - is remarkably opaque though. I've also known kids attending on scholarships whose parents paid full whack anyway. They could afford it fine and didn't mind paying, but it was nice to have the prestige of saying their child had qualified.

Why would you expect registrars to fall over for you when you can’t be bothered to visit. That’s not how it works.

You say you would need a massive bursary for boarding but in practice the income cut off point for a bursary is much higher. The annual income sum frequently quoted on here for eligibility for a bursary is 40k but fairly obviously with fees for boarding coming in at 36k pa plus extras this would be a totally unrealistic income cut off point. We easily earned double that (although we were asset poor) and still qualified for a significant bursary at a big name full boarding school.

Do the schools not have bursary packs you can ask for with all the information in them?Our old school did this. Also small schools have way less money and it comes from fee income so other parents are often paying the lions’ share. Many of these parents are scrimping and saving to afford the fees.

This is not the case at the bigger “name” schools especially if they have a very old foundation. Few girls’ schools are very rich but co-ed schools are a better bet.

For entry into y9, the exams are usually in January. Few schools give bursaries to less then highly talented children. This may be academic but could be in other areas. You will have to try for academic by the sound of it.

Also, your school may not be a total disaster. Not all private schools are good. Some have pretty useless teachers. Some are not financially sound.

The schools may well have used up their butsary money but they should have told you about entry points and how their system works.

Personally, I don’t email. I prefer a phone call for the information pack. I think you have sounded a bit demanding and rushed to conclusions about foul play. Many schools have a phenomenal number of applicants and give to existing parents. They have to make choices. I would enquire elsewhere and be realistic about your DD qualifying. If she has a very high academic talent, it’s worth a go. GDST schools are worth looking at.