Middle class parents trying to get private school bursaries

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Would really welcome people's thoughts on this. I know of a couple of couples who are trying to get bursaries for their children to go to private school. They are all highly educated people from wealthy backgrounds but who either have low paying creative jobs (e.g. artist/film-maker) or left highly paying jobs to start their own companies which have yet to succeed. Both couples live in high-cost luxury, rented apartments but have little income coming in (although enough savings to keep paying the rent). I think if they want there kids to go to private school they should get off their arses and do some work that pays, rather than getting the school (AKA other parents at the school) to to pay for their kids education. What do you think as this is really pissing me off!!!! (Btw, I live in crap accommodation, and work all hours doing a job I hate to pay for my children's school fees). Are they taking the piss or am I just full of sour grapes because I didn't do what they're doing?

If they can't afford it, then why not apply? Lots of jobs aren't high paying.

Why can't you get UC if you don't have savings?

Why can't you get UC if you don't have savings?

Because we are doing some on line teaching rather than performing. But it's not enough to cover our mortgage, bills and food.
And, DH has a £10,000 tax bill to pay in a couple of weeks time. But he hasn't worked (performed) since March. Look up the excludedUK group. There's 3million people not able to claim any financial help.

Well done you for doing the best for your child

I think it’s going to be pretty difficult for you to convincingly mount a high horse on this one.

Very interesting post OP. There are definitely families at DCs private school whose qualification for a bursary seems dubious at best. If you are fortunate enough to have one perhaps maybe don’t flaunt the expensive cars or the second home quite so much.
I have a friend who has 3 DCs at private school on all bursaries. Her and her husband were both privately educated. I’d argue with the people that say the children need to show some exceptional quality to get a bursary….none of these children have anything exceptional…but the parents know the system…and that is key. Furthermore one set of GPs are multi multi millionaires…but they don’t offer to pay. And whilst I appreciate that GPs aren’t under any obligation to support their grandchildren’s schooling, the grandchildren will be come insanely wealthy anyway when the GPs die…..just seems a bit cheeky to take a bursary under those circumstances.
I think scholarships and bursaries should only be given to kids on free school meals and the onus should be on the school to find these talented kids. And to have charitable status20% of the school should be FSM kids. That would be some levelling up.

There should also be a similar post on Middle Class parents trying to get their children into grammar schools..

@MrPickles73 why don't you start one?

There should also be a similar post on Middle Class parents trying to get their children into grammar schools..

Is there anywhere that it is morally acceptable for middle class people to send their children to school? Asking for a friend.

SumAndSubstance if you are middle class it should be as shitty as possible.
We live in a rural areas and the state primaries and secondaries near us are very poor (aspirations are very poor). If you have the audacity to ask on MN for advice on private schools you are told to apply for your local grammar school or become a governor at your local state school (already tried and failed at the latter). Our nearest grammar school is over an hour's drive away (no public transport) - this is incomprehensible to people in Kent / London / Buckinghamshire but other parts of the country are available...
On MN tutoring your child to get into grammar school is socially acceptable but ask about private school and you're deemed elitist..

Yes, you just sound bitter. You could say the same about people on benefits who have never paid into the system having children and accessing state education to be fair… same principle so you’re just being bitter because you choose to pay fees and they might get it free.

Though I understand where you’re coming from!!

I think it does matter who is actually paying for the bursaries. Where my DDs went to school it was wholly from few income. Therefore when some parents are just about affording the fees, they see others who appear to be playing the system getting more. What they are getting is a proportion of the fees scraped together by others.

I will happily declare we always paid fees and could easily afford them. I knew a proportion went for bursaries. However some of those given were dubious and there certainly were eyebrows raised from time to time. It’s absolutely inevitable when the fees are high and family income is variable for some families.

Fee income - not few income.

@Tableclothing

In my view, bursaries are for people who are doing the best they can but can't afford the fees.

This is one function of some bursaries, but it's not the only one.

Private schools usually have charitable status, but they also need to turn a profit. So they need to be places where loaded folk would want to send their children. So they need to have stellar exam results, an impressive orchestra/choir, beautiful artwork on the walls, national sporting triumphs.... It would be nice to think these things happen because of dedicated, highly skilled teachers, but they are much easier to achieve if you get kids in who can do them in the first place. So it is in the school's interest to attract the academic, the musical, the sporty. At the indie school I worked in, only a tiny proportion of bursaries were awarded to students from financially precarious backgrounds (and they'd've been out on their ear if their grades or behaviour dipped). The rest went to kids who would make the school look good to future customers parents (eg kids were considered for sporting bursaries if, minimum, they already represented the county in two different sports). So the 'charitable' bursaries were actually more of a smart business move.

If paying for your DC's school fees is ruining your quality of life then seriously consider joining the 93%.

It would appear you are confusing scholarships with bursaries. They are different things. Awards due to ability whether they are for academic, sporting, musical, drama etc are scholarships. Mans testing does not apply at all.

The OP is talking about bursaries for those who meet regular admissions criteria (whether that is selective or not) but qualify for a bursary on a means tested basis.

Some students qualify for both.

Actually schools can give certain fee reductions for DC out of their own money for whatever reason they choose. Many schools don’t have a huge pot of money for bursaries. It might even be raised from fees and gifts. Therefore it’s not necessarily true that the qualifying threshold is just meeting standard entry requirements. 25 DC might meet this for 5 places. So how does a school decide? Usually by academics or other talents. It is competitive in many schools.

Some schools are quite clever in that you can only apply for a bursary if you have been awarded a scholarship. We have only found 2 schools near us that has a scholarship worth more than 20%. Most are 5 or 10%.

Where my DDs went it was 0% for a scholarship. Bursary was on needs but DC had to have something extra above the standard DC.

"they should get off their arses and do some work that pays, rather than getting the school (AKA other parents at the school) to to pay for their kids education."
From what I understand, bursaries are not funded from other parents' fees. They are funded from charitable donations.

Scholarship awards are not means tested, so completely different in this context. We don’t know the system at all, and neither of us were privately educated, but a decent scholarship for our child, makes it almost doable for us. Our SE income is just above the school bursary threshold, but we live in a modest home by comparison with many people we know who have applied for, and been awarded bursaries. I agree the system is highly dubious, and is most definitely played by those who ‘know the system’. Many children at our daughter’s prep, had wealthy grandparents and substantial homes - yet were attending on some element of bursary. Not all schools are as thorough as they should be…

@starray
I’m afraid that’s wishful thinking. For larger boys schools with substantial numbers of rich alumni, they do get donations. They have investments going back centuries. Girls schools are very different. It is often parents who pay from fees or raise money. In fact some schools have “premier” parents who fund bursaries through additional donations but I’m afraid you are not correct that all schools raise sufficient by this method. Whichever way you look at it, many parents pay.

You’re looking at a quarter of a million pounds to put a child through private school. Most middle class families don’t have that amount to spare, even if they downsize to a smaller house. In any case, partial bursaries are only useful to people who have some money but not enough. The genuinely poor would be unable to accept a 50% bursary and pay the other 50%.

Genuinely can’t see how a working class family with zero experience of the private school system would know they could or indeed how to apply for a bursary. I know I wouldn’t.

It’s not difficult. You choose a school and look at their web site to get info and then apply. You will need to say what your income, outgoings and capital are but it’s not that difficult. Don’t forget some people went to private schools themselves and are very clued up about how it all works. Other people might have met parents who want similar schools and make it their business to find out. Others don’t like their local schools and make it a priority to find private alternatives. Most people, however, don’t bother snd do not feel they need to. But there are a tiny minority who try very hard to get a free education at a very decent independent school and might not be wholly deserving. I’ve certainly seen grandparents money used for living whilst parents deliberately earn next to nothing.

Plenty of people do it. I know people where wife chooses not to work to keep joint income down. We however both work so would be just over any threshold