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Education

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Original poster

Quick bursary survey please

87 replies

abittoofat · 07/10/2011 17:53

I'd quite like to get an idea of what percentage of people who apply for private school bursaries actually get them.
Would anyone mind saying if they've ever applied for one and if they got it??
Many thanks.

OP posts:

meditrina · 07/10/2011 17:56

No one collects and collates this information.

It will be confidential within each school, and I expect the variations between schools of differing sizes/profiles are considerable.

LIZS · 07/10/2011 17:56

It will vary hugely from one school to another dependnin on the size of the funds allocated to it - some have a few worth a lot, others many but worth less.

onadifferentplanettoday · 07/10/2011 18:08

If you want to know about particular schools and they are charities look on the Charity Comission Website. it tells you how much is spent in the year on bursaries and how many children benefit.

Original poster

abittoofat · 07/10/2011 20:54

Thanks.
I was wondering if many Mnetters have applied and been successful/unsuccessful.
Maybe it's being too nosey.

OP posts:

Bunbaker · 07/10/2011 21:05

We applied as our total income was below the threshold, but it was refused as we have no mortgage and have some savings. DD passed the entrance exam and was offered a place, but we declined the offer and sent her to the local comprehensive where she is doing well so far.

Up until now I have had no regrets about not sending her to the private school (and am still solvent!)

happygardening · 08/10/2011 10:12

We've applied four times twice for each DS. DS2 has been given a very generous bursary on both occasions but not only is he exceedingly able he has lots of other "desirable qualities." DS1 was offered a bursary at prep school level but did not get one when we applied at senior school level. He too is bright although not a bright as DS 2 but on an initial meeting would from a schools point of view not have many other desirable qualities. He's now very happy in a comp. and doing well.
We rent a house and have no savings, have way above the average income but not enough to cover the £31000 school fees bill. You are assessed on your disposable income its very simple if you own a house or have saving you will be expected to free it up to pay school fees.

bladderack · 08/10/2011 12:49

I applied and got a bursary for my daughter.

I have no mortgage, some savings but I'm on a very low income and have been for years. I wasn't sure whether it was worth applying for a bursary but I phoned and asked whether the fact that I owned my house would count against me and the bursar said 'no, you have to live somewhere'.

I guess the criteria are different from school to school and it's always worth phoning up and speaking to the bursar.

crazycarol · 08/10/2011 13:06

DD has a bursary. We have a house with a mortgage with a fair amount of equity in it due to the fact we bought it over 10 years ago. We have a (in my opinion) small amount of savings, and our household earnings are below the school threshold. They offer bursaries for 1 child for incomes up to £50K. Last year they stated that around 10% of the school population received bursaries ranging from 10% to 100%. This year is a little higher.

iggly2 · 08/10/2011 14:09

Ds has bursary. House minimal equity, no savings, okay earnings (still below standard threshold) but lots of loans and mortgage so very little to live on. Ds is very bright and I think this makes a difference.

pinkhebe · 08/10/2011 14:13

ds has a bursary. 80% of fees. We have a mortgage, no savings, average income.

Original poster

abittoofat · 08/10/2011 14:58

This all sounds promising then. Have many people tried and been refused??

OP posts:

iggly2 · 08/10/2011 15:39

If your child is well motivated and has strengths that will benefit the school it is worthwhile applying. If they do not give you one at least you tried. Good luck.

eatyourveg · 08/10/2011 15:58

ds1 has a bursary, we too have a mortgage and average income. School have never mentioned that there is a cut off threshold. Don't know of anyone else there with one, its not something people advertise. The only thing I know about our school that seems to be different from the majority of schools is that ds holds the bursary until he leaves, it is not recalculated on a yearly basis whereas I think others have to send in financial information every year.

sieglinde · 08/10/2011 16:51

We applied when ds won the school's second best scholarship at CE (so he's very bright). We were roundly turned down, even though more than half our income goes on the mortgage. We remortgaged (we thus have almost no equity and even more crushing repayments) but were then turned down again.... In theory we could sell the house, but it's not very practical/spruce, and we would take a big bath if we did. (Ok, maybe it was a mistake to buy it...)

Our pretax income looks on the high side, but most of it goes on the mortgage, bills etc. We don't turn the heating on till after 31 October, and then only for two hours a day. Economy light bulbs, no foreign holidays - make that NO holidays year before last. We sold one car and the other is a Prius.

Eventually ds said he was not getting enough from the school to make it worthwhile, and he chose to leave to go to an FE coll for 6th form. We've yet to see if that works out for him.

Frankly, I think you could easily form the impression here that a bursary is relatively easy to get, but that hasn't been our experience. I have colleagues whose children have also been told 'no'.

I'm not particularly bothered about this anymore, really. We made some choices and we have to live with them.

WinnieMac · 08/10/2011 16:53

Watching with great interest, as we will be applying soon.

Bunbaker · 08/10/2011 17:36

"This all sounds promising then. Have many people tried and been refused??"

We were. I stated that in my earlier post. DD was offered a place at the private school and we turned it down. We need our savings for funding DD through university and for our pensions (OH will be 60 next year).

I have since found out that the private school had a larger than usual intake (from families with deeper pockets than ours)

happygardening · 08/10/2011 17:53

Independent school are not interested in your future plans e.g. university fees pensions. i would rather channel the £1000 plus a month that I spend on fees into a pension scheme or a deposit on a house but it doesn't work that way we decided that we wanted our DS to go to his independent school more than anything else.

Bunbaker · 08/10/2011 18:03

"we decided that we wanted our DS to go to his independent school more than anything else."

We were undecided, but wanted to keep our options open. Our local comprehensive isn't a bad school, so it wasn't as if it was all or nothing. Neither OH nor I have been privately educated so the idea of private education was somewhat alien to us. Also, we didn't want to live a life of penury to fund DD through school. I think it is easier when you are younger because you know you can make up the shortfall when you are older, but I am in my 50s and OH is nearly 60.

Neither of us felt that private education was more important than anything else and the idea of being penniless at our age is not an attractive one.

Fo0ffyShmooffer · 08/10/2011 18:12

Also watching with interest. I wasn't certain if it was entire income or disposable income you were judged on. If it's entire income then, with tax credits we go over the allowance. If it's disposable income we don't.

QuintessentialDead · 08/10/2011 18:20

Watching with interest, as we are really keen on a local private secondary for our boys. But would need a bursary to make it happen. Ds1 is very good at maths. Ds is athletic (but only year 2 so it is far off) so I am hoping he can get a sports scholarship.

happygardening · 08/10/2011 18:25

It is about choices we too have an excellent local comp. top in the county but we still wanted my DS to go to his school more than anything else. We have a good income (I have never seen an income threshold by the way and if there is one for sbut the fees eat up a substantial chunk of it so we live carefully and certainly have few if any luxuries. By the time he leaves we'll both be in our early 50's with no pension but I still wouldn't do it any other way.

happygardening · 08/10/2011 18:33

Pressed wrong button posted before I finished. I have never seen an income threshold by the way although I've heard people talk about £40 000 but our fees our £31000+ a year and we reckon to comfortably pay it you've got to be earning £110 000 + a year particularly if one of you earns a lot more than the other because you're taxed to the eyeballs!

iggly2 · 08/10/2011 18:38

Threshold for lots of schools round here often quoted as corc £45,000-50,000 higher if more than one child. £31,000 must be boarding fees.

iggly2 · 08/10/2011 18:38

sorry "circa"

Bunbaker · 08/10/2011 18:45

The school we looked at said that bursaries were available for incomes below £40k.

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