Winchester 2025 13+ entry bursary / admission questions

[parent1709]

Was hoping someone could help us. Our DS gave the 2nd stage assessment / interview at WinColl on 1st March 2023. We had applied for a bursary at the end of January 2023. We understand from blogs that results are due May 2023 but I don't have the patience to wait

Today we received an email from an independent company requesting a bursary appointment next week (they have requested the usual documents, all totally normal). Is this a good sign? Or am I reading too much?

I have two questions for parents who have gone through the admissions process at WinColl and/or similar schools:

1. Is the WinColl admissions truly "needs blind"? (regardless of what the school says in public). For example does a boy who needs 80% bursary need to clear a higher admissions hurdle to be accepted Vs. a boy who needs 20% bursary Vs. a boy who has not applied and does not need any aid at all.
2. Is the fact that we have been called for a bursary appointment mean that DS has essentially made it through from an admissions standpoint? He has faced a string of disappointments so I am hoping I can give myself him something to cheer about (although we have no intention of telling him until we know for sure in May 2023)

I am conscious WinColl is highly competitive and the interview process is/was intensive. I also hope that the right school will find the right child as long as its my child 🙂.

The key question is is the admissions hurdle set higher for bursary applicants at WinColl?

Thanks for your inputs

Asked son about tutoring. ‘I know literally one person who has tutoring before exams and that’s because he’s got a tiger mum.’
When pressed on timing of tutor sessions - after Preces, on Sundays - he (I fear) used the expression ‘bullshit’.

Most of it was meat - so if there was a bit left in the oven tray, as kitchen staff we'd throw it in the pig bin (none of us had any interest in taking it away and I never saw anyone do that - from cook to kitchen staff), and when we collected the boy's plates, all the leftovers went in the pig bin as well. So when the housemistress fished through it (as she regularly did), so would pull out any meat that could be salvaged and ran it under the tap. I guess she had to make the most of what food she bought in.

Thank you WEEonline for your input.

When compared with bursary applicants at an academic school our son is decidedly average on exam performance, extracurriculars, and likely even raw IQ (he is still very good at all three but in the lower quartile when measured against bursary boys). He performs well below average on the school's mock interviews (he is just not mature enough or organized enough to sell himself in 15 minutes). He has frequently displayed sparks of creativity since he was a toddler, particularly in 3D building, design & construction, and combining materials and objects in completely new ways. I repeatedly to any parent that will listen relate the story with pride of the day (several years ago), he was told (by me) that his cardboard construction (secret den) was too tall and would collapse under its own weight. He dismissed my advice, did not give up and discovered on his own the principle of suspension rope to support structures. Before he could read or write he submitted an idea in a design competition for a hammer that didn't make noise that was selected by the organizers to be turned into a working product. I am sure every parent can share stories of impressive feats of their child as they were growing up, so our case is a nice story but not unusual. I continue to hope he was chose by God to discover a novel cure for cancer. But actually he is just a happy, bright and brave little boy.

We applied for a General Place and he was interviewed either by the Registrar or by a former Housemaster (we don't know which). For the time being, let's make an assumption that his 45 min interview with either of these two individuals was positive enough for him to be recommended for a Provision Place (allocated to a House later based on vacancies). Let's make a further assumption that he was not high up enough on the preference list for a bursary. Will WinColl still make us a Provisional Offer? Or will they deem that there is no point making us a Provisional Offer as we won't be able to afford it?

I was told by one (helpful) current parent they send two emails, the first for the Provisional Offer and the second a few days later for the Bursary. Me and some other hopeful and anxious parents have received invites for a Bursary interview. It feels good to believe that this is a good sign (i.e. our sons are at least on some kind of provisional offer list otherwise why would they bother). However it could be that they doing a Bursary Interview is standard procedure for all applicants and no additional cost to the school (miminum number of free interviews are covered by the contract between the school and the Bursary Company). Can any current parents tell us if a Bursary Interview invite means we have a provisional place?

Should I be calling WinColl admission and make a request for them that if he is fortunate enough to have a provisional place, but not exceptional enough to be in the bursary league to not reject us outright (on grounds of affordability) and give us a chance to look at other funding options? Can any current parent tell us what WinColls typical practice is when a child is good/"wanted" enough for a provisional place but is not good/"wanted" enough for a bursary?

Have any parents heard yet (via their DS's prep school)?

Winchester admissions said the prep school heads only find out the day before parents are mailed.

@Roses81 thanks for reply.

Do you or any other parents know if provisional offer emails and bursary emails come out together and more crucially if a boy is turned down for a bursary does this mean he is then turned down for a provisional offer as well ?

@parent1709 I think it really depends on the circumstances. It is possible to get an offer without a bursary for sure. The HM will open the door to the bursary, but after that the two processes run in parallel I think

Yes, probably fairly close together, same week at least

Thanks @WEEonline . Among the bursary applicant parents, some (including me) but not all, were contacted by a Bursary Ltd company a few weeks after their DS's interview. Does this normally mean that they have a provisional place? Or am I reading too much into a Bursary Ltd interview invite.

No idea but it could be anything: maybe you over or underestimated sthng (vs their avg) etc so I wouldn’t read too much into it