To not want my personal financial affairs to be pored over by randoms?

[MxGrinch]

i am looking into getting DC into a private school as he is way too clever for his state school.

I knew of one in the next county and discovered they had academic scholarships for Yr9 entry. Had to register with them (non returnable £100 fee! we are a low income family) and arrange for DC to take the entrance test and scholarship assessments which he’ll be doing next month.

I’m obviously nowhere near as clever as DS as I thought a scholarship meant the fees would be paid! It seems they are only 10-20% paid so we will need to apply for a bursary.

I was sent the application form last week and need to return it tomorrow.

They want so much personal information such as 3 months bank statements, full income and expenditures, children’s income and expenditure. debts, car reg and value etc.it’s really flipping complicated and will take ages.

I know they need to assess whether we can afford the fees but seeing as there is no guarantee DC will even pass the entrance test, this is not information I want to share at this point as it may not go any further.

Theg have said if we don’t return it by tomorrow DC may not get a bursary at all.

AIBU to not want to give loads of private info until DS is actually offered a place?

*randoms not ransoms!

He’s way too clever for his state school?

Yup.

If you want the bursary then you have to fill in the forms by the deadline 🤷🏼‍♀️

Yes you are being unreasonable. You are asking for money, guessing there is criteria for them to award money. You need to play by their rules, and one of those rules is that you provide the information before he takes the test.

How is it possible to be "too clever" for state school? That doesn't happen

Yeah if you want to apply for a bursary you will need to provide the requisite information

Don’t be ridiculous. You want their money, but you don’t want to fill in a form?

Don’t bother then 🤷🏻‍♀️

I am looking into getting DC into a private school as he is way too clever for his state school.

You lost me at THAT sentence there. As you were. Nothing to see here.

It has to be strict as they have very limited bursary funds available. I went through this process myself and found it super intrusive but it was worth it for DD. Her school sadly only do two full and two 50% a year so she missed out and I m stuck working all hours paying full fees, you are incredibly lucky to have found a school that will assess you for a bursary after year 7. So yes it is intrusive but if you want a free place you have to jump through the hoops they ask you to!

oooh you rebel

Unreasonable because...

• they want to know whether there is any point offering a bursary, which there isn't if you can't afford it (and it sounds like you likely won't be able to)
• no child is too clever for state school...

Don’t do it the who cares 🤷‍♀️ There will be plenty of parents happy to hand over their info by the deadline to secure a bursary. I doubt the school will give a shiny shit if you don’t

I have no problem giving the information if he was offered a place but it’s a lot of very personal info when we don’t even know if he’ll pass the entrance test!

They're not just checking affordability for you, they're making sure you are genuinely in need of the bursary and don't have a speedboat on the drive.

Do you think it’s rude of mortgage companies to ask financial info too? That’s a long, not even free money.

If your son is as bright as you say he’ll thrive with your support wherever he is.

yes i think it's reasonable for someone receiving 90% of private school fees for free to demonstrate that they actually are a low income family - not just pretending to be a low income family.

Seriously, you want the. To cover tens of thousands of pounds in school fees the of want to scrutinise your finances. If you want the bursary then stop being precious and send in the info.

@ Too clever for state school

“it’s really flipping complicated and will take ages.”

Get the too clever for state school son to do it faster?

Or at least get him to do a basic pounds per minute calculation of what your time will “earn”, potentially. You might feel better about doing it then?

If he’s too clever for state school, but fails the test, where does that leave you?

😂

Just leave the bursary for the people who can be bothered to do the slightest bit of research and meet the requirements. Luckily there’s no such thing as too clever for state school, so he’ll be fine. Might be a bit cross that you couldn’t be arsed to fill in some forms while making him do an entrance exam though.

then don't do it?

You don't get anything for nothing in this life. No one is just going to take your word for it that you are worthy of a bursary and nor should they. Those providing the funds that allow the school to offer bursaries deserve to have the peace of mind that the money is being used in the right way. If you don't want to disclose, don't apply.

This ☝🏼☝🏼☝🏼