To apply for bursary at an independent school?

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Household income is just over £70K. We have two cars on mortgage, go on holiday 3 times a year (but we try to make them budget hols), like to go to the theatre a lot and eat out. House mortgage £1200 pm.

The school charges £7K per term.

Anyone in a similar situation who was successful with their bursary application? Would they look at our spendings and turn us down?

Anyone?

I imagine it would depend on the school. Being independent they would all have their own policies but I’m sure they would either be able to let you see the policy of give some kind of rough idea of the likelihood of success in an informal chat (probably with the bursar) before you apply. Obviously, in most cases bursaries are reviewed yearly or at some key points throughout the pupil’s time at the school so bear this in mind too - what would you do
if, say, the bursary were withdrawn after year 9?. Then again, I have seen policies that make it clear that pupils mentioning too many holidays, parents who turn up in too many cars or designer clothes etc will be noticed! At the day, the bursaries are there for those who would benefit from the school but really can’t afford it, and things like holidays and theatre trips are things that some people may choose to cut back on if they think the private education is worthwhile.

Seems unlikely given your inessential outgoings.

Yes they will look at your spending the forms are intense and you have to give full details of every penny spent they would decide on what you could afford after your essentials

What year are you applying for, bear in mind for a bursary place tell will also need to sit assessments and exams and will be expected to be in the higher bracket academically, there will also be interviews with head teacher etc for you and the child

But you have nothing to lose by trying

I think you might need to give more context for people to reply. Age of DC, how many, are they already at the school, is it a full or partial bursary you’re applying for, do the school have any stipulations about family finances on the application? These will all affect the answers you get.

Also most bursaries are for 10-20% maximum in our school and the ones around this area

They will look into your finances in forensic detail, and your child will have to be an exceptional candidate.

Locally to me the bursary cut-offs vary between household income of £50k and £80k. All schools locally offer bursaries on a sliding scale, so with that income you're probably looking at no more than 10-25% fee remission even if you do qualify.

I imagine in central London the income boundaries may be more generous but that's just a guess.

So you want a bursary and to carry on with your 3 holidays a year? I really don't think that's what bursaries are for.

Thanks for your replies.

We have a DS in year 5 currently looking to apply to an independent school. He is very academic but we have no grammars around here and so thought an independent might be an option if we could get some help.

We are happy to cut back on holidays from now on but worried they might look at our previous spendings.

You don’t cut back on holidays to make a bursary application more persuasive. You cut back on holidays because that is lifestyle choice that will make paying school fees more comfortable.

They will look at the previous year's spending. Everything.

I don't know where you live, but my child got a 30% bursary on a 7k per term school with a household income of 55k in the NW. 130k mortgage on a 3 bed semi detached, 10 year old car, no foreign holidays, 20k loan for a kitchen extension, no siblings. Hope that helps.

Bursaries are unlikely to be offered generally if your household income is more than 4 times the annual fees. Yours is just below this, so you would only qualify for a small bursary, if at all. You would be expected to forgo inessential spending to pay the school fees.

I don’t think that they’ll view your spending habits as those of a family saving hard to send their child to an independent school. Expect forensic scrutiny of your outgoings.

Depends, better off talking to the school. Don’t ask don’t get.
There are children at my DC’s independent secondary who are on bursaries.
The children who score highest on the entrance exams at the school have been known to get full bursary but have to maintain the grades. There are also 10-30% off for children who compete at county level and above in sport, drama or chess etc. And yes some of them have three holidays a year, two cars and a pony. However it is pressure, DC school has just introduced special pastoral support for upper and lower Bursary students as a fair number of them are struggling with the expectations.

Have you been saving over the years or made any contingency for paying for private education? If not, I can’t see them entertaining you as a serious bursary contender and in reality, nor should you be.

I doubt you’ll get much if anything. You could have cut down on holidays and theatre trips over the last 12 years to save for private school if that’s what you wanted

It's worth a try. My DS has one (55%) and our income is close to 70k.

My parents received bursaries for my independent schooling, it was a long time ago so I expect most things will have changed but they did have their finances combed through at a forensic level. Honestly I think if you're having 3 holidays a year, multiple trips to the theatre etc then they won't find much money for you.

It will vary a lot from school to school. I think you'll find they expect you to cut back a lot on your current spending and will only offer a tiny bit of support if any, but that will depend a lot on their policies and how deep the bursary pot is.
We did have some savings and our mortgage payment was only around half yours, but I think we were paying significantly more than your fees for our two children combined, when both were on generous boarding school bursaries.

Meant to say, with similar or slightly lower household income than yours.

It's worth a try and as you say they are academic would an academic scholarship be potentially possible? you'd have to make sure they were well prepared for the entrance exam but around here they can be worth up to 50%, it might also be possible to get a scholarship award and a bursary, so applying widely to more than one school might be the way to go.

We've not had a holiday abroad for five years. We accept it's the price we pay for private school as middling earners. Yes, your finances will be scrutinized. We don't qualify for a bursary as we have savings.

Bursaries can be given from 100% downwards, with 100% being very rare. If a bursary is given, it is given for the length of time that the child would be able to be at the school (so all the way to A level).

They will ask to see your bank statements and ask what you spend on what. They will then decide if your child is someone they want to f give a bursary to and if so, they will decide the percentage, which will be based on what they think you can afford. They will tend to leave you a couple of hundred spare a month after your outgoings and their bill, so you'd be looking (I imagine) at a bursary of 40-75% depending on what they thought. Scholarships can knock around 10% off as well.

They do have the right to come and recheck your finances each year (but tend not to) and they ask that you advise them if your financial circumstances change.

We've had to certify "no changes" every year and fill in repeat forms roughly every other year I think. Bursary for youngest decreased a bit when eldest left (a different) school.