Private school bursary - how it’s decided?

OP isn’t responsible for the other threads.

The school(s) in question have bursary programme(s) so it’s utterly reasonable that people apply for them. She applied for a bursary, as she was entitled to do, and she was granted one. However, it is less that she needs to be for her to afford the school, so she’s asking a reasonable question about whether there might be more available.

She values the opportunity for private education, as do you and as do I. She’s not hurting you by applying for a bursary and asking on MN about it, so I don’t really understand why you find that galling and are being snarky with her.

Anyway, you do you. I’ll leave it there.

Sorry @Eucatastrophilia that was meant for @SheilaFentiman. See above

@Eucatastrophilia no but with other threads complaining about parents being asked for £120 a year contribution cos school should be ‘free’ and the majority of posters coming on to say how utterly unreasonable it is for a suggestion that people pay anything other than the woeful taxes they pay that supposedly cover education (except they don’t in the vast majority of cases) it’s pretty galling to also see people posting about their general lack of happiness regarding getting a discount of thousands of pounds on private fees when others of us are tied into paying for full fees and have the VAT hike too.

As I’ve explained, @Smartiepants79 - that depends on the school. Plenty of pupils receive 100% bursaries at the places I know best.

So are you saying you can’t afford to pay anything?? The chances of an 100% bursary are extremely small and would only be for a truly exceptional student.

Exactly the same at DC’s indie. Scholarships are maxed at 20% and bursary funds have been cancelled and kept back for any current families who find themselves in difficulties, since the VAT introduction. The head also said that families expect any spare cash to be put towards keeping the VAT contributions as low as possible, not to be given out to new families to pay much less than everyone else.

The VAT rules have only made independent education more inaccessible for those with lower incomes.

A friend of mine is a bursar and they have said since VAT they are using a far larger proportion on existing children who are now struggling to pay the fees, rather than new incoming. They prefer this as they know the children attending and abilities which is better than bringing in new children who might not compare and have to discover that over some years. Something to consider alongside the rises that occur and extra costs for uniform and the rest.

OP didn’t ask anyone to feel joy for her.

Have you already heard from the other three, @dragondrive?

I am paying for 3 children to attend private school. That's the best part of £75k a year for the oldest alone and damn near close for the rest. Do it. Don't do it. But don't expect paying parents to feel joy that you are getting support to get the same at a discount and expect more.

with respect, it doesn’t sound like you should pursue this, OP, it sounds very tight financially for you.

The school could still be well funded and not offering bursary support to new pupils. With the VAT and other fee increases, bursary funds may be prioritised to give fee reductions to existing pupils so that kids don’t have to drop out partway through their studies.

At our school we really expect bursary recipients to cut back on absolutely everything in order to contribute to the fees.

I see a lot of families essentially saying “we can’t pay the fees because we don’t have that much money left over after all our current expenses”.

But really it should be a case of “we’ve cancelled all discretionary expenditure, we are only spending reasonable amounts on groceries and new clothes when the kids grow, and we drive an old car, only holiday by visiting family, and we still can’t afford the fees, could you please help”.

Our bursar has told off several families who applied, clearly expecting to maintain their current lifestyle while other families at the school subsidise their fees - and most of us are making sacrifices to pay the fees ourselves.

So have another really honest look at your finances and whether you could make any cutbacks. And then go back to the school - thank them for the offer, explain what steps you’ve taken or could take to contribute 75 percent of the fees and if it’s honestly not possible tell them how much you could contribute, and explain that unfortunately you would need a bursary for x amount and ask them if they could consider that.

Maybe they will, maybe they won’t, but you don’t lose anything by trying,

If it’s of any interest I was thinking of places like Eton and Winchester. (I don’t keep up to date with exactly how many bursaries other public schools offer!)

True - but you did say "places" which implied more than one school.

ETA no need for the prep school caveat - this is in Secondary School

They usually look at your finances in some detail, presumably you had to submit tax returns etc - as others have said, bursaries are going to suffer due to VAT.

Well, they’re boarding schools, so may not meet your criteria for ‘accessibility’. Also senior schools. And I didn’t say ‘several’ schools - I said several bursaries. (I mentioned one above.) I do know prep school bursaries are thinner on the ground.

Gosh, where in the country are you that you have several accessible schools with this sort of offer?

(somewhat rhetorical; you do not need to out yourself)

Hi @dragondrive my DC received a head master's award (c15%) and then we applied for a bursary, which I think was around c45%? I would write back to them and thank the school for their offer and you love their ethos / what they can offer your DC / highlight the school's good points, and just see if they are willing to up their bursary offer. We still pay quite a lot per term (I think just over £2.6k per term instead of the full, normal price), but my DC is thriving in their school.

Hmm - you see, we wouldn’t have applied to a school with such a limitation. I’m accustomed to places that are well set up to offer several 100% bursaries, and where at least 20% of pupils are in receipt of some level of bursary assistance.

25% is very good these days.

@Eucatastrophilia This chimes with our experience. We had to demonstrate that we could pay the remainder of the fees not covered by the bursary plus have a plan for how we would cover 100% of the fees if the bursary was withdrawn in future (for us this would mean selling our house).

OP out of interest, how much of the fees were you expecting to be covered by a bursary? DCs school make it very clear on their website that 30% is the absolute maximum and anything above this is only considered in extreme circumstances (e,g. death of the fee paying parent).

In truth it’s not lucky to be offered a bursary that still leaves the goal unachievable.

Some schools (Eton, for instance) make it clear they will withdraw the offer of a place if they are not able to offer a bursary that they feel will realistically enable the family to pay the fees. So you need nerves of steel when you apply …

But with fees over £60k now, it’s a fabulous prize if you get one.

Sounds like a fantastic bursary, you are obviously in a much better position than others that applied lucky you.