CAT4 – SAS 138 – Which top independent schools would offer high scholarship %?

Your info on Tonbridge isn’t quite correct, OP. Our close family friend’s son is there on an 80% bursary. If your son gets into Tonbridge on that sort of bursary , everything is paid for by the school , including uniforms and trips.

Christ's Hospital in West Sussex offers bursaries up to 100% based on income - you could be offered part bursary plus a scholarship too. It's academic but also amazing for art/drama/music - has it's own marching band! What's lovely about it is that you get such a mix of backgrounds - some full-fee payers, some full bursaries and lots of in-betweens!

Try Alleyn's, I know a family whose DC got a scholarship there, based on academics and high sporting achievement.

I am interested to know why you think that as, faced with a similar choice, it seemed to me that the curriculum breadth in the independent school we eventually chose was hugely better than in the grammar - curriculum and GCSE options available were big factors in the decision. Not to mention that the private school was obviously not going to be impacted by budget squeeze etc in the same way.

Also, there is a whole range of schooling experiences contained within 'grammar' or 'private'. A grammar taking the top 20% or so will be a very different place from a superselective taking the top 5% or perhaps less. A very selective private like Westminster will be hugely different from a private school in a small town with a smaller pool of potential children to draw from or a much less selective private school. So it is difficult to generalise between private and grammar in the main.

I think most people aiming at very selective schools will sit for a range, including grammars, and see what comes back. But, just to take one point, a child capable of taking Grade 8 in an instrument while still at primary school will have a more challenging and probably more satisfying musical experience at a school where there will be a lot of peers working at the same level rather than a school where this is unusual (it is very unusual in most state schools but I bet there are quite a number of children like this at Westminster).

I think you are likely to get a better all round education in a grammar school. What makes you decide against that?

Best of luck! Remember that the process for Y9 entry/registration often takes place at the same time as 11+. So dont get caught out missing any admissions deadlines.

Wow, well done to your DC and amazing music achievements. Bright but also hard working as to get to Grade 8 in Y5, your DC will have put hours and hours of practice in.

Scholarships that I've heard of range up to 40% for academic (this is for 11+ i.e. entry into Y7), but typically 20-25%.

Some children then 'top' this up with sports (I think typically 5-10%, maybe higher for some I can image perhaps to 15-20% but depends on how much you bring) and music/art etc probably similar.

This is for top 40 indies/top 20 in London...it will be less for the top UK 10-20, I should imagine. Don't think Westminster offers anything at 11+, unless you're looking for a bursary.

There are the super selective grammars that do very well (but be prepared for kids to work really, really hard, maybe less of an all rounded experience). Don't discount comps in leafy areas where the top set often outshines grammar/local indies.

SPS Bursary info

They will help families with incomes up to £126,000.

On music scholarships - they don’t often offer much unless combined with a bursary. Some schools are generous with these - your best bet is the top tier boarding schools, and particularly all-boy schools if your ds can sing, as they need trebles for their choirs.

On music scholarships:

At 13+ the most competitive schools will be auditioning dc who have done Grade 8 already on their first instrument and often also their second. Many of the kids will be cathedral choristers so will offer voice too, or they’ll be studying in the junior department of a conservatoire. When my dc auditioned he had grade 8 in his first instrument, grade 8 standard voice (was a chorister) and grade 5 in his third instrument.

At 11+ the competition is less intense unless your dc plays violin or piano, which tend to produce early achievers. At the top schools there will be dc playing strings or piano who already have their grade 8 but decent competition from kids with grade 6 or 7 in brass and woodwind.

At less competitive schools it’s going to be easier for your dc to get a music scholarship but likely harder to get a bursary. Or you could stick to grammar school and send them to a JD at the weekend to do the music there.

the advantage of boarding is the availability of other talented musicians 24/7 to allow dc to practise in a community and play in all sorts of ensembles.

Good luck whatever route you take.

year 5 = somewhere between 9.5 and 10.5.
its still pretty rare but not unheard of. Grade 7 is pretty common on main instrument at primary age in national childrens orchestra, and a lot of them come from greater London (though there are also a fair few on grade 5-6). DC is still in primary and is working on grade 8 for 2 instruments. There is another primary age child in same school also working towards grade 8 on main instrument. DC auditioned recently for one of the junior music schools and the kid auditioning straight after him was smaller (I didn't ask age) and also playing at that level.
FWIW schools are a lot keener on orchestral instruments than piano.
Grade 5 distinction is often the minimum level to apply for a scholarship but the kids actually being awarded them are often grade 6-7+ standard

“Is it worth stretching our limit to give him (and/or his sister) another option?”

You can’t afford to send one child without a significant bursary with an uncertain future. And then you slip in that there’s a second child 😬 if it’s a risk to afford one, it’s a hell of a risk to afford two. and/or makes me shudder. Different schools for your children can be fair and it can be that they don’t mind. But very often it’s not fair and they do mind. Tread carefully.

Year 5 - so aged 8 or 9 - and is taking grade 8 in an instrument soon. That is incredible. I did grade 8 piano when I was 16 and it was hard, particularly the aural tests. He must have passed grade 5 theory when he was about 5. Is this normal now?

Your best bet is to contact the bursars and admissions departments of any schools that you are interested in which are close enough and ask them about their bursary provision. If you can give them reasonably accurate financial figures they will very likely be prepared to talk to you about what you may be eligible for. You can also look schools up on the register of charities and see what they say in their published documents about how many children are on bursaries and what percentage of those are for a high amount.

It definitely doesn't need to be boarding schools and even those that start at 13/Y9 are moving towards testing at 11+ partly in order for them to be a realistic option for children coming from state schools - eg St Paul's which is mentioned upthread but is maybe a bit far away if you are in SE London. Somewhere like this or Westminster are good options, though, as they have junior departments and a boy who passes the 11+ will be able to choose to start in Y7. Many schools will waive the registration fee for bursary applicants. Even schools that only operate a Y9 entry may still test at the 11+ stage rather than later on.

You want bursaries, not scholarships. Scholarships are just for the glory and a small amount. Bursaries are means-tested unlike scholarships and are the only realistic option for an ordinary family on an ordinary income. It is also wrong that eg St Paul's doesn't offer more than 10-15%. The majority of bursary recipients at St Paul's are getting between 75 and 100% of the fees.

Re grammar schools, it depends on what area specifically you are in and which schools you are looking at. Many of the London superselectives are just as competitive as the more academically selective private schools. If you are, however, in an area where there are lots of grammar schools (you mentioned Kent) this is likely to be an easier option.

@hayfin you have to pay to register in order to start the admissions application. They won't do an assessment or tell you whether you've been awarded one until after entrance exams etc. You pay a fee upon registering then get invited to sit the entrance exam and go through bursary application. So you won't know before you pay for registration what your chances are of being offered a scholarship/bursary.

I guess, if the financial support is very limited from a particular independent school, we won’t even register becoz we simply can’t afford it.

You don’t seem to have understood. If you have a clever child and insufficient income / assets to pay fees - you need a bursary, not a scholarship. Bursaries are means tested and can be up to 100%. (Some places will even pay for uniform and trips in addition.)

Roughly 20 to 25% of pupils at ‘top independents’ might be on some level of bursary. But you need to know about the application process well in advance.

You will need to check the entry requirements for 13+ now... lots of the kids will come from Preps and do pre-testing in Y6 and then exams in Y8, but there are often lots of routes as not all kids will have gone to prep.

Worth having a look around now. Somewhere like Rugby could be a good fit - superb music, good academics, very good with SEN and it was one of the less flashy schools that we looked at. They also have good bursary provision. (And amazing food).