Do private schools give bursaries/scholarships to parents with decent salaries?

[Alyosha]

I feel certain that the answer to this will be "no" but wanted to check.

We have two DS, 3 and 3 months. We both have good jobs, joint salary is over £100k, very comfortable and we have no complaints about our standard of living. We live in London, where private school fees seem to have gone absolutely nuts. I went to SHHS which was £9k pa by time I left in 2007; so very expensive but would be just about affordable for me & DH for 2 DCs. Occasionally they send me a begging letter asking me to donate for their fund to build a world class music centre...can't say I'm too motivated to donate now their fees are pushing £20k pa.

I can't see any way that we could afford school fees for both boys in 2- 3 year's time even with our good incomes. But looking at the support available it's only if you're earning under £80k. But there's no way I would have thought a family jointly earning £80k could afford £20k in school fees for 2 children (£40k net a year!) with mortgage, council tax, utilities, groceries etc.

So our only option would be a scholarship, but most scholarships seem to be 20% max off fees, which doesn't make them affordable, especially not long term. Is there anywhere that has substantial fee remission for a scholarship in commuting distance of North London, either primary or secondary?

This is of course assuming the DCs would even get scholarships, which I realise is a tall order!

@LiterallyKnowsBest

www.cityoflondonschool.org.uk/apply/13-entry

CLS boys’ scholarships appear to be worth £250 per year …

It seems to change each year. We were offered 1/4 of the annual fees for the whole school career. I’ve heard it can be as much as 1/3z

God these comments

Forty grand after tax is 55 before tax, so sending two kids would leave them 45 to live on, before tax, or 34 after tax, which is wat below the average double salary in London. Of course they can’t afford it. At that level families of four receive benefits.

Of course it’s a stonewall champion (well for now )

Are you really not talking about their bursaries, KittenKong?

Confused, otherwise!

I do believe that generally the limit in family income for bursaries is set at around a family income of £70k.

Sorry OP I don't understand your question?

If you can't afford to send your DC to private school, then don't?

Usually bursaries are there for children whose parents have fallen on hard times during their child's educational career. For example: child has been going to school for several years but this year self-employed breadwinning Parent has a cash flow problem and cannot afford the fees.

[quote Alyosha]**@RedskyThisNight* We are very much looking at state education! We both went to state primary schools and we are fortunate to live in London with good state secondary schools nearby. However, we would prefer to send our kids to private secondary school as we both had the benefit of this ourselves. Our net income after school fees, mortgage, groceries, council tax etc. would be pretty low and not at the level that we could sustain 5-7% fee rises every year; and of course fees are ~£20k for senior school now* so in 8 years' time will be even higher and definitively unaffordable then.

I think I find it galling that private schools themselves seem unable to admit that their education is unaffordable even to those who are very well off, which surely isn't any good for their long term health!

@Level75 Obviously people earning less than us need it more - but it still doesn't make it affordable for those earning more than £80k.[/quote]
But that's just the thing. Plenty of people can afford high fees like these, but you can't. Perhaps if you had a cheaper house or only one child it might be affordable.

@Angrymum22 yes this is the other option, depending on the state of secondary education in 8 years' time we may move, it is so much more affordable outside London. Our in laws live in Birmingham and we could definitely afford it there. Question is would we be able to get jobs there/can we keep being fully remote. I suppose I'm assuming if it's unaffordable now it would definitely be unaffordable in 8 years because of annual rises of 5% which would make it about £60k by then...

Well that wouldn’t be terribly helpful for boarding schools, MissDollyMix!

As far as I’m aware income limits vary greatly from one school to another, dependent upon the school’s assets and investments, its ethos and aspirations for the future, and just how much they want a particular child to join.

@LiterallyKnowsBest

Are you really not talking about their bursaries, KittenKong?

Confused, otherwise!

No it was a scholarship. They automatically made scholarship offers on the place offer letters (so you didn’t apply for them).

@changingchanges2 sorry, perhaps I wasn't clear in the original message. I was asking if there are any schools at all that have scholarships with a significant amount of fee remittance. Do you know of any?

@changingchanges2

Sorry OP I don't understand your question?

If you can't afford to send your DC to private school, then don't?

Usually bursaries are there for children whose parents have fallen on hard times during their child's educational career. For example: child has been going to school for several years but this year self-employed breadwinning Parent has a cash flow problem and cannot afford the fees.

No, you’re either out of date or otherwise ill informed. That hasn’t been the standard bursary model (at least in England) this century.

@521Jeanie We could afford it for one child, yes. However we don't have one child, we have two children.

We could also potentially downsize into a flat and use the capital to pay for it, that is the other option, or move further out. Definitely things we will consider.

I don't think your joint salary in London is enough to send 2 children to private schools. One of you needs to earn more. Or you need to move out of London.
You will not get a bursary, but if you can get them to a high enough level for music/drama you may get a scholarship which is usually 10% off fees.

Well 🤷🏼‍♀️ I would like a holiday home in southern France but don’t earn very much, does anyone know where I can get one for a tenner? Thanks peeps x

Have you considered your boys becoming choristers? That's an amazing experience, and can come with a very good scholarship.

www.candidmoney.com/calculators/school-fees-affordability-calculator

Using this - says it's unaffordable

The reason being, changingchanges2, that your model maintains the initial barrier to entry for all but the well off. Schools can’t justify that mode of existence nowadays, either in terms of optics or with regard to the intellectual and social climate of the school. They need diversity in their intake - financial, cultural, racial, environmental, geographical (if possible). So offering bursaries at entry opens the gates to a much wider range of people.

@Storminamu funnily enough I had! Does sound amazing but I'm put off by the boarding aspect.

@Glassofshloer Sorry, not sure I understand. What's the relevance of French holiday homes to this conversation?

School fees in London are bonkers OP. Ours are at the local prep school but to be honest in their class most parents are £250k plus if there not then they tend to only have one child.

Another observation is that you are both quite young in comparison to parents in reception, most are late 30s/early 40s (thus further through career pathways)

I would probably say your option is state school and then get tutors for the 7plus (hopefully you’ll pick up bursary/scholarship) at this point

I'm having a similar issue to you. I live in Watford and all of the private schools around here are around the same £15-£20k pa. I think moving out of London/home counties is the only answer tbh. I'm slightly lucky as my DS isn't starting school until 2023 but me and his father have already decided that moving out of Watford to somewhere slightly more affordable is the answer. Maybe look into this too? Some of the best private schools are outside of London.

@underneaththeash agreed. Not affordable now, even less so in the future. Think we will have to see what state education is looking like in a few years' time and make the decision then. Right now I'd be pretty happy with several of our local state schools so fingers crossed.

Even a gifted & talented scholarship is usually means tested to some extent.
The private schools I've researched all had scholarships and bursaries but they are not available to people on this level of income.

Pretty much everyone I know who has sent their kids private is having it partly/wholly funded by the grandparents, or otherwise they are mortgage free.

@Bringonsummer19 Might frame this comment on how young I am :D
I did feel like a teenage mum in North London having DS1 at the age of 29!

That's a very good point, perhaps in 8 years' time DH and I will have better jobs earning more & thus it will be more affordable. Although I very much doubt our salaries will rise to 5-8% each year keeping pace with school fee inflation even with promotions etc.!

@Pinkrose1111 We love London but I think this is really the only option if we do decide to pursue private education.

[quote Alyosha]@Storminamu funnily enough I had! Does sound amazing but I'm put off by the boarding aspect.

@Glassofshloer Sorry, not sure I understand. What's the relevance of French holiday homes to this conversation?[/quote]
Oh I was just trying to draw a silly parallel between the two - both are wondering why they can’t have an extreme luxury without the sufficient money 🤪