Non-existent bursaries

Is your dd in year 8 or year 7 now? I’m only asking because if she is year 8 and would start year 9 this Sept, most schools will have done their entrance exams, scholarship exams from Oct - Feb and offers along with bursary offers would have been made in Feb, so it is possible that they really cannot accommodate your dd at this time so late in the year.
My dds school is one of the better known older establishments and they offer some amazing scholarships for girls entering into the LVI from state schools, with 2 awards being 90-100% off fees.

Does your dds school set for sciences, maths, English? Hopefully if it does then she will be amongst like minded students who want to achieve and excel at school and hopefully she will still enjoy learning and not be pulled down.
I’m still shocked though that the admission dept have been so rude. Telling anyone that their email wasn’t read or ignored because they have a full inbox doesn’t give off a good impression to me. I’d be looking elsewhere. You might want to contact the older independent schools as well. As a pp said, they do tend to have a bigger ‘pot’ and could probably offer better advice and a way forward for you. I was very nervous when I first contacted my dds school as I felt a bit out of my league but they were wonderful and helped me enormously.
Best wishes

I think it depends on school. At our local independent parents earning below say 40k are eligible to apply but for a very limited pot. We were on 27k when we looked into this but then I found another job which took us just over.

I think some of the big London school bursaries the threshold is much bigger and with more money.

The point is - boarding schools (the big names, at least) have much more money for bursaries and actually welcome applications from suitable candidates.

But you do have to apply at the correct point in time. If you are still within the application window there’s no harm in widening your search to include the type of place that has been mentioned here.

Agree with Christ's Hospital and/or big names and/or boarding schools.

TBH I think you need to decide on the school - get a good fit for your daughter - then start talking money. Just getting an email doesn't argue any commitment at all on your part, and most selective schools of any type get significant results because the parents are hugely committed to their children's education and will move mountains and pay for extras for it.

Music is a good route to fee assistance. Can your daughter sing or does she show any aptitude for/interest in music at all? Have a think about a choir school. Not all are boarding.

Also double check whether there are any specific professional or local grant giving trusts that might help. There aren't many that I can see that help with day school fees, boarding is more likely. However, there's some strange individual trusts that help e.g. children of doctors, children of merchant seamen, children of people who have worked in the fashion or retail industry.

At my DC’s old school we regularly received letters inviting parents who were struggling with the fees to apply for a bursary but as I said they had a bursary pot of millions. Bursaries were available to all who had succeeded in getting a place not just scholars. My DH’s old school also has a bursary pot of millions and does a similar thing. But both are very famous big names. I also know at least 1 pupil at my DC’s who did get a substantial bursary at a non entry point so it can happen.
OP have looked at Christ’s Hospital? They I believe have an entry point in yr 9 and have a very generous bursaries policy.

Agree with those who suggest bigger, older schools. A small, undersubscribed private school is unlikely to have much of a bursary pot, the long established big names have historical funds for exactly that. Think properly about what your daughter's real strengths are, and draw a wide net of possible schools. Especially if she is year 8 or above (and thus less likely to be able to get a place before 6th form), consider boarding schools too. The school my eldest is at seems to take a few more at year 10, after a main year 9 entry, but entries may be mostly worked out for next September now.

If you approach schools from the point of view of admissions possibilities, and working out how they would suit your daughter, and then discuss bursary options, hopefully you will get some helpful discussion from some of these schools. Maybe they can give you hope for 6th form entry and ideas for how to support your daughter till then, if necessary. Don't be put off by a "big name"! If you'd told me when my son was little, the senior schools he would end up targetting, I would have been shocked. For us, and for one of his friends similarly, boarding for senior school will work out cheaper than a dayschool.

I hope you get somewhere, good luck.

My daughter has a scholarship and bursary at a very well known girls school. She did the scholarship exams for entry into year 7 and from being awarded a scholarship we were able to access the bursary award. Her school only take students at entry point of year 7, year 9 and into the sixth form. Her scholarship is very small in terms of monetary value and is more for the accolade whereas her bursary is a good value off fees.
Her school will also offer bursaries to current students whose parents are struggling financially due to loss of job etc. The bursaries are re assessed every year and the pot of money allocated then. A bursary on entry to the school is only possible with a scholarship (a student the school really want) and only at the normal entry points (year 7,9, LVI)
I don’t know of any school that would accept you out of normal entry points and offer a bursary.
You don’t say which year your dd is in, if year 7 then definitely apply for exams next year for year 9 entry( get application in ASAP as my dd’s school are closing their 2019 registration now)or if a bit older then you might consider sixth form entry.
I wish you and your dd good luck and if those schools are not receptive maybe look a bit further afield. Most schools offer transport.
Certainly the admissions dept of the schools youve contacted appear to be unprofessional and rude.

"These are independent schools surely the clue to their way of working is in the name."

Don't think I need any lessons in how independent schools work nor any clues in a thread to see where or what the problem is. Independent schools are only independent in the way they run their schools including the admissions process; the syllabus and/or the curriculum they choose and offer; the freedom to choose their staff and a host of other miscellaneous things.

However, they do not have the freedom to break the laws of the land in aspects such as e.g. health and safety regulations, DBS checks on staff, statutory requirements to hand over to the DfE and other governmental depts. various annual statistics and data including public examinations performance data, annual accounting reports, etc. So, it's not as simple as you think that an independent school can just do what they like. I reiterated that the DfE may be interested in hearing about the misrepresentations at the schools' websites as this may contravene The Misrepresentation Act (1967?)

You could always look at the schools accounts as they should detail number of and £ amount of bursaries awarded.

Well managed independent schools will have a limited bursary fund, and they will have a policy for how they disburse this - typically giving out bursaries, eg 70 - 90%, as poorer families are still not able to afford fees when given a 5 - 20% bursary.

I am assuming that, if your DD is already in senior school, that she wouldn’t be eligible for a bursary in many schools, as their bursary pool will already be allocated.

If you are serious about a school, you at least have to have the courtesy of visiting it.

Have you thought about state boarding schools? Far more affordable, some are excellent, and it may be easier to access funding.
For example Wymondham College in Norfolk or St George’s in Harpenden.

There is a State Boarding School Association which might be worth a look.

"the Charity Commission would most certainly be interested. I'd give both a ring as such misrepresentations cannot be allowed to continue"
The Charities Commission will not be interested a friend applied for a bursary from a very well known but in retrospect not overly wealthy coed boarding school, their website (at the time) had a whole page devoted to widening access, making their unique education open to all, in line with their founders vision blah blah blah (or something similar). But after she filled in a the bursary application form she heard nothing for 3 moths, after four emails to the bursar she finally received a one line reply, sorry but their bursary fund was not large enough to enable them to offer a bursary to her DD. She felt that their website has seriously misrepresented their ability to offer bursaries so complained to the Charities Commission and received a: sorry you weren't able to get a bursary out of X, we do not state how many bursary or what size a bursary a school has to offer for it to achieve charitable status..
There as said above a number of years ago there was a brief attempt to impose a particular level of bursary proven on independent schools for them to maintain their charitable status but that was overturned. As long as they are doing something charitable: even if its renting out their swimming pool to disabled children then they can be registered charities.
I dont see why the DfE would be interested. These are independent schools surely the clue to their way of working is in the name.

To be honest, you'd be better off avoiding those schools that gave you the run-around and excuses after excuses re the emails etc. Clearly they have misrepresented themselves about bursaries that they don't have. In normal commercial settings you'd have plenty of avenues to lodge your complaint but this is an educational institution(s). The DfE may be interested to hear your story and like you(?) said earlier, the Charity Commission would most certainly be interested. I'd give both a ring as such misrepresentations cannot be allowed to continue.

I think don't give up but to request a face to face appointment with the Bursar to understand their application and entry points. You can should have a far more informed and receptive response face to face instead of some admin person who's job it is to reply to emails. Hope this helps. Don't be put off and try other schools but ring them up!

Also bear in mind:

• that in fact there is no particular level of bursary provision required to satisfy the Charity Commission (there was a brief attempt to impose one, but it was legally challenged and rejected)
• that with very few exceptions, the schools do not have pots of money they don't know how to spend. Bursaries are usually, in effect, provided by other parents paying more than the actual cost of educating their children (in addition of course to also paying tax). You're sounding as though you think because you can't afford it you have a right for those other parents to subsidise you. Do you expect parents who can afford better food, holidays, cars, homes than you can to subsidise those too? Maybe the tone I'm hearing in your posts isn't what you intend to put there - but if the schools are getting the same impression I am, that might explain why you're not getting the responses you'd like.

The bursaries aren’t non existent, they have simply already been awarded and the schools cannot offer any outside of the normal entry points to the school. I think DSs school has a “pot” equal to, say, 10 full fee places - this can be allocated as 10 full fee places, 100 places with a 10% discount or any combination in between. Once the pot is gone, it’s gone (barring an exceptional child with the talents they want).

Agree with most of above, although - in my experience it really shouldn’t be necessary for a parent to do much in the way of ‘bigging up’ their child in this context. Enquire/apply at the right time; be certain of a stellar report from the head of their current school; let your child speak for themselves through conversation when visiting and performance in entrance exams and interviews.

If they are sufficiently impressed with the candidate there will then be detailed discussions/ form filling with the parent - but this will be about income and assets - not how clever you think your child is.

We were given substantial bursaries for my DS's (both now at university) from yr 2 and then one got a very substantial one at secondary. They have a bursary pot of millions and 25% of the school receives one but in reality offer few 100% bursaries most are 70% bursaries. I don't have any difficulty in believing that schools have been unhelpful or ignored you.
My advise is be honest that you'll need one from the moment you start talking to a school but you need to sell your DC first, as others have said most want something in return, be it academic results sporting prowess art etc. I also agree its much harder to get one at non entry points but again I know some who have.
Ultimately for most schools the bursary fund is limited and schools can afford to be choosy. I also think you are probably better looking at "big name" schools with matching big fees and assets/ wealthy past pupils etc which are over subscribed, they are likely to have a bigger bursary pot and also be genuinely more committed to widening access.

Surprised at the response you received. My son received a bursary of a significant reduction in the fees as I was a lone parent and couldn't afford the very high fees this particular school had. They wanted him because of his talent for rugby. I suggest when you next visit a school you really big up your daughter and her academic achievements. However whereas she might be top at the local comprehensive she may well be mediocre at some of the more academic acheiving schools.

As previous posters have said you may have applied outside the normal entry years so the bursary pot may well be allocated, however, it doesn't excuse rudeness from the schools.

Bursaries are real, they are there but you have to accept that the schools are businesses and they want a return for their (bursary) investment. Once I got my head around that and took the emotion out of it I think it was easier to be objective. Generally the schools want the best candidates and they will give the amount of bursary (if they have it available) to secure those candidates first and foremost. They are the students who are most likely to bring something to the school either through academics, sport or the arts. That is the reality in my experience. The amount of applicants normally far outstrips the money available so the schools can afford to be choosy.

A charm offensive on the registrar and highlighting the advantages of your daughter to the school, then discussing how a bursary would enable them to secure such a talented child is, in my experience, the best way to go about it, however, it does help if you child does have the necessary talents in the first place. Make a list of her achievements, her aspirations and goals, her extracurricular etc and then sell those talents. Good luck.

What year is your daughter currently in?

The various schools’ lack of response does seem unusual, but as pp have said, it may be that your enquiry was out of sync with their application processes.

I would be surprised if merely advertising bursaries on a website but not actually offering any is a viable business model. But if the places you’re talking about are small, ‘local’ day schools I imagine they only offer one or two bursaries per year anyway.

What you need is a grand, ancient institution with an enormous amount of money and a well established and generous bursary policy that covers at least ten percent of pupils. But you might have had to begin the application process in yr 6.

If your daughter is already in yr 9 or beyond you may have to wait till she’s preparing for yr 12. And then there may be rather different criteria for entry.

I think you misunderstood what bursaries are for and how lucky you are to get one!!! I know of someone's Dd on a bursary, there current state school suggested to go independent for exceptional talent, they got her to take the entrance exam then parents said as lovely as the school was they couldn't afford it. The school wanted a talented child.... not Mum emailed them saying will you take my child for free?

Sorry didn't see your daughter is already at secondary. Our bursary money is allocated from Y7 to last until Y11/13 so we wouldn't usually have any funds to allocate to other year groups unless someone left.