Eton scholarship admissions: advice please!

[PriscillaLydiaSellon]

DS (10.5) is dead set on going to Eton. We can't remotely begin to afford it, so he is going to try for a scholarship/bursary. We have been told that he doesn't need to do anything until Y8, as he's only applying via the scholarship route - but teacher friends at two other boarding schools (which DS won't even look at, being fixated on Eton) have said that that in practice, children need to be registered in Y6 even if they are only applying for 13+ scholarships. Has anyone been there and done this? If so, I'd be very grateful for your advice...

Priscilla I think you need to establish what precisely financial help Eton might be able to offer given your circumstances, and which of your income, savings, and expenditures will be taken into account.

Although it is said that 25% of students get financial help, given the £32k/year cost, that does not strike me as a very high proportion. Whether that is because few but the very wealthy are willing to apply, or if the rhetoric about 'no-one denied a place for financial reasons' is some distance from reality, you really need to find out before you commit several years of your life what the final cost is likely to be.

No Eton fan me but I think you'll find if it is 25% that that is pretty impressive! Of course we dont know how big each bursary is at Winchester where I think 12% receive assistance the average bursary is 50%.

Thanks, Joan, that is sensible advice. We also have the bursary forms now.

Am I the only one curious to know the outcome of the Eton application? Hope it went well for the OP's son!

Outcome here