Parents over 50, can we get a bursary?

[sandrinha1]

Hello,
I'm about to apply to a bursary for my 13 year old son to a very prestigious private school. We are both above 50, I'm 53 and my husband 56. My husband has lost his job during pandemic, now works as agency in a warehouse. His wages are ok, but he has to do a very large amount of hours to get a good salary, but also sometimes they don't call him. I have a permanent position at a big company and also I have to do a good amount of hours to have a good salary. Both together are about 70k. Both jobs are physical. Having into account that we are over 50+ and our son is a really bright boy, have we got any chance?
We have a very old car, 12 years car, still paying mortgage ( bought a house 7 years ago ).
Just looking for opinions.
Thank you

I said "any private school I KNOW" ok?

From the many clues being dropped here, I have narrowed down to a couple or so schools. If I'm correct, then:

1. This is a boarding school.
2. Parents' ages have absolutely nothing to do with their bursary schemes.
3. The level of parents' incomes is not set in stone when considering an application for bursary.
4. Total household incomes and expenditure however, will be taken into consideration.
5. It is quite possible for the school to email parents/guardians to remind them to apply especially when they have shown interest previously.

The OP must first and foremost apply to sit the tests/exams etc before anything else. Explain to your son this is the compulsory first step and to do his utmost best whilst he's at it. But tell him NOT to expect too much as it's very competitive. And if he's done exceptionally well when the results are published, the school will then be more interested than you in admitting your son. This is the time to talk bursary and more often than not you'll get it all your way. Good luck!

Good luck OP. Im going to do the same with my son in a few years time. Give it a go you've got nothing to lose. As long as he understands there's a chance he might not get in then I'm sure he'll be able to handle it.

A bizarre suggestion that age will be a factor. When my youngest DC was 13 my DH and I were both over 55 and there were very many similar aged parents in his cohort.

I really would like to know what the age of the op has to do with a bursary award

Yes, and the age of the car.

Hi
I thought I would reply to your comment . How do people justify to the bursar about fees when like the bursar has already said about how much they can give . We have had been offered 25% off fees . With saying they may not have any spaces anyhow / and my child having to do the tests .
i don’t think our private school has a thing like that where they wait to see if bursary can be topped up if brilliant at entrance exam etc .
i don’t know how they worked out the 25 % with us we didn’t put the bills ( outgoings ) apart from the mortgage and cars we got .
There wasn’t even spaces to put anything about food shop etc and the school think we can pay 300-400 a week that’s how much money we will need spare to send our child . But unfortunately ww are left with about 80-100 a week if that after petrol bills etc .
how does a school expect you to live when paying fees . Do they expect all spare money to go on school fees instead of making memories . I mean like how does the school Know how much we got to live off when we didn’t say about bills . I wonder if they think 🤔 X Amount is what we got to spend every month ! What can I do ? Have a word with the bursar ? make an appointment to see them ?
I don’t know what I should be doing I’m trying to get peoples views of this . As I don’t know . Thank you for any help

Do they expect all spare money to go on school fees instead of making memories[?]

Odd question! Essentially they expect you to use your disposable income on fees before anything else, yes.

And, if it’s apparent that your disposable income could be increased by making lifestyle choices - working full not part time, liquifying assets, not owning expensive cars, holidaying in Scotland rather than the Maldives, for instance - then they would expect you to do those things. Larger bursaries go to families who really have no flexibility in their income and no assets (other than the home they live in) that can be brought into play.

It’s never a bad idea to investigate more than one school when looking for a bursary. And it’s sensible to provide as much financial evidence as possible. But bursaries are usually decided after a child has taken the entrance exam.

Hi thank you for your reply oh gosh I totally get that . I don’t think Hubby and I and my child would be going to the maladies but I totally get what your saying . I’m not sure why they think we have an extra 300-400 pounds a week based on our income . When after bills we have about 100 a week left . I would put that £100 a week towards fees of course but it’s gone past that they think we got lots of money must do . My husband said it’s prob because we didn’t put down money for petrol to get to work money for electric gas food shopping etc . But there wasn’t any columns on the sheet that we printed off for anything apart from the obvious ones .
So if there was no where to put it do they think someone else gives us money to spend on bills .
I thought that’s what they would do after a test to give the bursary . I wonder if bursary would go up after the test if my child did really really well . Something I would ask them too . But thank you so much for your reply .

Ps we got very old cars on the drive way . But yes I totally get that if you got new cars I would definitely sell them and get older cars prob not as old as mine is lol 😂. But yeah if you got 22 plate or even 2021 etc or 5 years less yeah would sell of course . I do anything but it’s too possible . As no new cars

It depends on their available funding and policy. They might prefer to help 4 families at 25% than 1 at 100%. Also at an in year place, rather than main entry point, there may be less to allocate as others in the year group are already using up funding. There often is room for negotiation but reality is that the vast majority of families are priced out of fee paying schools even with bursaries.

We get a 30% bursary on income of 55k. Boarding school so the fees are high. We only afford it through a house remortgage which freed up some funds & living off nothing. I’ll be glad when it’s over so we can have some money again!

Hi I suppose they see what car / reg your driving around because if you got a 40 k motor on the driveway brand new reg you got money to pay for school fees I suppose I don’t know ?

I wonder whether OP got the bursary or not?
I was under impression that it is given to a child not to parents.
Parents can be younger than 50 but in poor health/disabled/uneducated so not able to earn enough to pay for a private school. Or even be dead.
Opposite can be true for over 50 parents: high earners or accumulated significant capital.
Also my understanding was it was usually offered to current pupils whose parents lost jobs etc. and not able to pay the fee.
I think for new pupils the school would assess if there is a mutual benefit from having the child in their school.

Also physical jobs could be cleaner or taxi driver, paid in cash more than declared to HMRC.

I think for new pupils the school would assess if there is a mutual benefit from having the child in their school.

Apart from the sentence above your observations are mostly inaccurate or out of date, Lily7050!

The waiving of fees is offered to parents for their child.

With boarding school fees now reaching £50k you certainly don’t need to be in poor health/disabled/uneducated to struggle to pay them. While eligible parents may include those with health issues it’s widely recognised that it’s mainly better educated (middle class or impecunious intelligentsia) parents who

•can access information on bursaries
•have the organisational skills to apply at the right time
•have the time and energy and resilience to see the process through.

The old model of offering bursaries to existing pupils whose families fall on hard times simply didn’t do the necessary job of widening access. The aim of forward looking schools now is to seek out and encourage applications from a much broader range of families - to enliven the school environment and ensure the school attracts the cleverest pupils.

So there certainly is a benefit to the school in terms of the academic reputation they wish to maintain - and in being seen as a force for good.

Absolutely this. Schools are seeking to increase diversity and become as needs-blind as possible. Ours confirms the bursary percentage before any tests/references etc are done - the discount is purely agreed on financial circumstances. That doesn't mean that everyone who's eligible for a discount gets a place, even if they pass the tests - there isn't a bottomless pit of funding. But they try to prioritise a combination of the brightest and the poorest families first, until the bursary pot runs out. A certain amount is then reserved to help those who fall on hard times.

At the school my kids attend parental age is irrelevant. If your earnings are under £100k they will consider you but will also look at lots of other factors- owning property, savings, mortgage etc.

You're unlikely to get a full bursary at £70k but may get some help with fees depending on your other financial affairs.

Yes, same here - age is irrelevant. The assessment looks at income, savings, house equity, lifestyle (cars, holidays etc) but not age.

I think our school offers bursaries for income under 100k, I know someone with an income around 70k and I think they have a 40% bursary.

Applying to a top public school????

Tbh all these “scholarships” the schools are pushing just seem to be a ploy to get kids into the school. One scholarship my son was offered was only a 5% discount. The fact they have sent numerous emails suggest they are desperate for £.

Bursary offered to existing parents only??? At the top 10 public schools they certainly aren't - Eton, St Pauls (boys and girls) Westminster Wycombe Abbey

If they weren't accessible to parents who can't afford 45K+ a year in fees, they'd lose their charity status OVERNIGHT

That’s worrying.
Most decent Private schools are full and dont need to tour for businesss

Bloody Zombie
Why dont we have the Zombie picture any more?