To think there is incredibly stiff competition for assisted places/bursaries at private school?

[joogle]

DD is bright for her age and a friend has suggested trying to get her a place at one of the private schools in our area. We are on a very low income so would qualify financially but does the child need to be bordereing on genius before they'll be considered for a bursary? Any advice would be appreciated!

I disagree. True this is an educational topic but it goes deeper than that. OP is asking if she is unreasonable to even apply for a bursary. It is a matter of principle. So this is the ideal forum and I am very glad to give some help and support.

joogle: it's jargon from the US whereby finances are not considered at any point in the application for a place and there were guaranteed levels of support to university candidates from low income backgrounds.

I may have misused the term a bit here - finances are already not considered in the awarding of a place, but as there is no guaranteed financial support, this can act as an indirect obstacle to applications.