Bursary advice

[Katy55]

Hi
We desperately want our daughters to go to a specific prep school, we could afford (just) one set of fees but not 2. I have contacted the school again (we’ve previously been in contact and I am an ex pupil, I was honest a couple of years ago and said we couldn’t afford it) and asked about their bursary criteria and have a meeting with the headmaster next week. I’ve made it quite clear we wouldn’t be able to do it without a significant bursary. We are not very low income - £90k pa but with Max fees for 2 coming out at £37k pa there is no way we could ever afford it no matter how you do the sums. We do own our small house but with limited equity, we have no other assets or savings, no luxury cars or holidays. I feel like we’re ideal candidates especially as we have said we’ll pay for one but at the same time does my husbands income rule us out for a bursary? He obviously pays a huge amount of tax so any expendable that could go on school fees wouldnt ever cover 2 sets. I have really set up a small business so have some additional income but very small. Any advice or insight would be appreciated.

@Katy55

Thanks for everyone’s insight! We got offered a substantial bursary for dd1 and a smaller one for dd2 - now just doing the sums and making a decision.

Of course you have. That was unbelievably quick and easy

Maybe they offered a scholarship.

If it was a bursary that's crap of them - who knows if you've got millions squirrelled away

This sounds v odd...we had to wait for the results of a committee hearing after submitting reams of paperwork...it took about 6 weeks, not 6 hours/days.....!

That’s very quick and very weird. For a bursary you’d have to submit financials and they’d go through them with a fine tooth comb. And it certainly wouldn’t be decided in under a week. That seems very very odd.

I’d be extremely careful if I was you

It’s also really weird that you’ve been offered a bursary without confirmation in writing or by email.

There’s something really not quite right here.

I must say, if I'd known that all it took was a cosy chat with a headmaster and a handful of days turnaround, we needn't have bothered with the entrance + schol exams (prep) and prolonged entrance procedure (senior) that we put our own young through for the 100% bursaries they've had through prep and public school. (Both boarding, the effort was more than worth it!)

Goodness weren’t you fortunate to get your application in just as the bursary committee was meeting!

@Katy55

Thanks for everyone’s insight! We got offered a substantial bursary for dd1 and a smaller one for dd2 - now just doing the sums and making a decision.

From a chat?

@Edmontine

I must say, if I'd known that all it took was a cosy chat with a headmaster and a handful of days turnaround, we needn't have bothered with the entrance + schol exams (prep) and prolonged entrance procedure (senior) that we put our own young through for the 100% bursaries they've had through prep and public school. (Both boarding, the effort was more than worth it!)

🤣🤣 Exactly

Silly us, providing proof of income and all bank statements /mortgage ststement/cc statements for 6 months and filling in lengthy forms asking a million questions then waiting a few weeks for the decision - every single year

@Edmontine

I must say, if I'd known that all it took was a cosy chat with a headmaster and a handful of days turnaround, we needn't have bothered with the entrance + schol exams (prep) and prolonged entrance procedure (senior) that we put our own young through for the 100% bursaries they've had through prep and public school. (Both boarding, the effort was more than worth it!)

Quite. Our school will do home visits as well. It all takes months.

Home visits?! Do they count the silverware too!

I found the process so horrendously invasive that I promised not to ever put myself through it again.

@SpaceRaiders

Home visits?! Do they count the silverware too!

I found the process so horrendously invasive that I promised not to ever put myself through it again.

Ours never have but say they can if they want to

Ours has always been fairly quick tbh

Home visits are pretty standard. Perhaps more so for boarding schools - there is after all a lot of money at stake, so they need to get things right.

IME bursary applications are administratively arduous and produce a fair amount of stress and tension - laying one's finances bare, and then waiting for the outcome. But I wouldn't call it horribly invasive. We entered the processes in a spirit of ridiculous optimism - so certain were we, on each occasion, that the school in question was exactly right for the child (abd the child right for the school).

And, of course, we applied to schools with very clear, established and well managed bursary award structures. No secret handshakes or ... whatever.

And, of course, we applied to schools with very clear, established and well managed bursary award structures. No secret handshakes or ... whatever

yes us too and tbh I am eternally grateful to our school despite the tedium of all the bits of paper

@SpaceRaiders

Home visits?! Do they count the silverware too!

I found the process so horrendously invasive that I promised not to ever put myself through it again.

They want to see the environment the child lives in.

If they're lording it about in a 7 bed detached house with a lake and a pony, there might be something amiss in their application for a bursary.

The bursaries are means tested and home visits actually make a huge difference between those chancing it (and yes, they do try and "hide" money) and those who genuinely would benefit from the opportunity.

A home visit reveals a lot.

@SpaceRaiders

Home visits?! Do they count the silverware too!

I found the process so horrendously invasive that I promised not to ever put myself through it again.

Well, you were asking for a "gift" of probably near £200,000 over their time.

They have to be sure they're doing all they can to make sure it goes to this in need, to help keep their charitable status.

If independent schools lose the charitable status, they're screwed, most would go under.

Well, you were asking for a "gift" of probably near £200,000 over their time.

You know what they say about making assumptions. You couldn’t be further from the truth if you tried!

"If independent schools lose the charitable status, they're screwed, most would go under"

Unless there is a change in the law, all would 'go under' - ie be required to close. Because as things stand, if an organisation is deemed not to be fulfilling its charitable aims, then it must be wound up, assets disposed of at full market value and proceeds given to a similarly aimed charity. This is a major protection against fake charities taking money from the public, then winding up the charity and putting the money into private hands. Education is, by law, a charitable aim.

Now, the law could be changed, but I've yet to see a proposal on how this would be done that would satisfy the concerns of the major stakeholders (such as every other charity which had education as one of its areas of activity).

Charitable status is worth about £200 per pupil per term. If changes could be made, I think there would be many takers. If they weren't, and all those which are charities were simply wound up, then we'd be left with only these which are businesses.

OP has not said if her school is a charity or a business. Both types offer bursaries.

How do you know what each school says to individuals about their finances? Most (if not all) bursary conversations are meant to be private to the families and thus nobody should actually know 'what their school would say.' This makes me worried for the privacy of all these things.

Bursary policies are published and publicly available.

This thread is nearly 2 years old.....

@lolo99 Erm, because I used to be a bursar and prior to that I audited bursary applications………..

All applications are, of course, confidential. I can talk in generic and non identifying terms though.