How to get a scholarship at a private school

[BlackNinja2]

DD who is 8 and in yr 4 is "very bright" (according to her teachers); she works at greater depth in all subjects and grasps new concepts very easily.

The secondary schools near us are not great tbh so I'm thinking about trying to get her a scholarship to attend private school for her secondary education.

I have no idea where to start and so would appreciate any pointers.

Generally speaking it's bursaries you want, not scholarships. Scholarships are often honorary, or a small sum. Busaries are for payment of fees, or a contribution to fees, and are means-tested. It varies by school and you'll really need to check with your local schools.

Our local private school works with the "gifted and talented" programme. They will than offer school places to some children in the programme (selecting the brightest), when transitioning from primary to secondary school.
Some places are fully funded, others will depend on parents income.
I have to say, the school has very good academic results, and is placed in the top 100 private schools in England. Because private school teaching isn't always better.

The schools near me have an entrance exam with academic scholarships being awarded to the top few pupils. Only usually a reduction of 10-20% though. They may also offer music, drama or sport scholarships but your daughter would have to be pretty exceptional to get one of these. It’s worth enquiring about bursaries too. One girl I know was awarded an academic scholarship and also a bursary which was means tested, covering most of the fees.

I work in a private school and I agree with a PP that a bursary would probably be better suited for you than a scholarship. Granted it may not be the same everywhere but in my school the scholarships tend to be for something - eg music, art, languages - and the child has to be gifted in that area (determined through entrance exams). But they also have to work for it in the school year - eg music scholars have to be in the orchestra, commit to taking part in competitions, attendance goals, certain grades etc. It's a slog and you have to be committed.

Just to (perhaps) give an alternative POV.... My son was offered an academic scholarship (50% off the fees) to an outstanding prep near us but we ended up turning it down after the head mapped out his future from age 7 to university and said we 'had a duty to send us your incredibly bright son'. The pressure he would have been under was horrendous. We left him in his fairly average state primary, and did lots of enrichment etc he flew through the 11+, is at an outstanding superselective grammar, and is thriving and happy, without having had all the weight of expectation and pressure through his early childhood.... DH and I both were privately educated all the way through and felt we 'had' to do the same for our (4) children, and were letting them down if we didn't educate them privately, but actually 3 (so far) have all got into excellent grammar schools on their own steam and we haven't had the stress of fees, or having to 'keep up with the skiing and Barbados bound Joneses' to fit in.

I’ve had two friends who were funded to attend private schools and had VERY different experiences.

It’s not just the fees it’s the ‘music lessons- lunches- expensive trips and pricey uniform’

Some schools include this and cover them for students on bursary. Some do not. Make sure you know the policies for whichever school you apply for

As you probably can see there is no one set of rules. For many schools scholarships carry no fee refutation it an honorary title .
But in many schools being offered a “scholarship” will mean that you are more likely to get a bursary. There are not that many schools that have sufficient money to offer bursaries to all their applicants most offer them to scholars who sit a separate entrance exam or those who particularly well in entrance exams.
Secondly no head will say that winning a scholarship/bursary is a done deal regardless of how bright your DC is especially into super selective over subscribed schools. Over the years Ive known genuinely outstanding candidates in all fields art music drama academia sport fail to get a scholarship and I’ve also know a couple of very poor candidates on paper get one even into one of the countries most selective schools in the UK with a notoriously difficult scholarship exam.
Start by visiting the independent schools you like the look of and talking to the bursar, they’ll give you an idea of what they offer and what the minimum standard is. Fairly obviously the more selective the school the higher the standard.
With regard to extras we paid for every piece of book paper and pen,we paid for transport to matches etc as were meals (DS2 full boarded) but most extra curricular stuff was included in the fees, my DS averaged one residential jolly a year they were significantly cheaper than those offered to my other DS at his local state comp. one particular jolly I was stunned by how cheap it was. The most expensive times were when he sat public exams. Many people comment about uniform prices at independent schools but it’s perfectly acceptable to buy it second hand.
Whether or not your DC will do better comes down to the independent school, results are not a done deal because your paying and how happy your DD is there. Teaching is not necessarily better (or worse) there are good bad and indifferent in both sectors.

Thank you all; you've given me a great deal to think about

I'd love to give DD the opportunity to sit the 11+ and attend a grammar school. The problem is round here, there are virtually none. We're based in West Yorkshire

This is all very dependent on schools. Many only give nominal scholarships (e.g. 5 - 10%) which wouldn't really make the difference in terms of affordability. Some schools do offer more generous scholarships but what they're looking for (sports? Music? Academics? All 3) vary. The only option is to contact all local private secondaries and ask what's available .

BlackNinja2, are you anywhere near Halifax? The grammars there are super-selective so draw from a really wide area.

I’d say to make sure your daughter is ‘wow’ academically by doing extra work at home + making sure she can offer other talents and skills such as music/drama/sport.
Some schools will offer up to 100% bursaries but they will prioritise the top candidates rather than helping someone who barely got through the 11+ and doesn’t do sport or music.

This may be stating the obvious but do make sure that your DD sees the private school as just one option while also praising the more realistic options in the state sector.

Every year we see posters whose child gets into a school but the bursary is either insufficient or not offered at all. At that point, the entire family have been "sold" the dream of independent schools and it's very hard.

Some schools offer quite a few bursaries and some none. The girls schools have fewer endowments/alumni sponsorships so tend to have less discretionary money to distribute.

FanFlabbyDoozy is right - lots of people said to us 'why put ds through the scholarship/bursary process and get your hopes up' but unfortunately you can never know, for most schools,how much you will be offered in a bursary until offers day. Therefore you have to almost always go through the whole process.

Bursars will tell you whether you are eligible to apply and, if you're lucky, a ball park figure but this all depends on performance, how many other bursary candidates and how well they do/their income vs yours etc. We had to turn down Westminster Under School as the bursary wasn't as high as we'd hoped unfortunately but luckily ds had other great options too so we didn't put all of our eggs in one basket.

Agree with poster above - there are two excellent grammar schools in Halifax - Crossley Heath and The North Halifax Grammar School. There are also excellent non selective schools in Huddersfield and Leeds. You’re really best contacting the private schools you are interested in and asking directly, they are generally open to a discussion.

Some private schools are a lot more generous with the scholarships/bursaries than others. In our area there is one particular school which is very well-funded (the foundation which owns it also owns loads of local land and investments) and it funds a lot of pupils who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford it.

Obviously there is very strong competition for this school and they select the very able and talented kids for their scholarships and bursaries.

Other local private schools don't have such deep pockets and their scholarships range from 10-30% of school fees. Also very few bursaries available.

It would be worth checking out the individual schools in your area to see how rich and generous they are (among all the other factors!)

@BlackNinja2

I'd love to give DD the opportunity to sit the 11+ and attend a grammar school. The problem is round here, there are virtually none. We're based in West Yorkshire

There are 2 in Halifax and one in Heckmondwike

My DCs non selective Private school in West Yorkshire give around 4 or 5 each year .
If you have been at The prep since the beginning of Y6 you can get 50% I think or otherwise it’s 20%. There are Academic, music and sports ones
To be honest though due to the relatively low discount it’s more of an honorary thing and tends to be for families who can afford it anyway.

One 13+ school near us offers Max 30 per cent for academic scholarships. But more often it is 10 percent. As others have said to get more than his you need a bursary which is means tested.
Prep schools are more generous in our experience. DS is exceptional at sport for his age (8) and has a sports scholarship. He is also very bright but I didn't want the pressure of an academic exam at his age. DD is v academic and has academic scholarship. We practiced with Bond and white rose for a term prior to the scholarship exam.

@DuesToTheDirt

Generally speaking it's bursaries you want, not scholarships. Scholarships are often honorary, or a small sum. Busaries are for payment of fees, or a contribution to fees, and are means-tested. It varies by school and you'll really need to check with your local schools.

This.

I have experience of both bursaries and scholarships at prep and senior school level. I'd say that the bursary pot is usually allocated to those being offered scholarships first (whether or not schools state this) - and if there's any left, to others thereafter. For the top schools, you do have to be a very competitive candidate, but I don't have any experience of other independents.

Bursaries are frequently more than scholarships as means tested (obviously depends on your circumstances -if you are very rich a 5-10% scholarship should be more than a 0% means tested bursary!).
Sounds like a bursary maybe what you are after if worried about cost etc. Often bursaries will be awarded in conjunction with a scholarship (after financial assessment) this helps ensure the child's parents can afford the school. The scholarship is frequently a token amount off fees.