Has anyone managed to get a scholarship or bursary so their child can be educated privately?

[Spidermama]

DD and I are trying to do just that. I would LOVE her to go to the girls school down the road because I think it would be the best possible option for her not least because she has three brothers and a pretty full on home life.

She's very bright but quite shy and not very forthcoming and I think the school would instill real confidence in her.

So we are practising the 11 plus type questions and mentally preparing (she's very keen to try for this) but I wonder if we're being realistic.

I've told her we're reaching for the stars and it may not come off and she's very ambitious and keen to try, but so few of her friends are going down this route that I wonder if I'm just being ridiculously idealistic and wasting our time.

So I'm looking for encouraging stories of people who have managed to get scholarships and/or bursaries.

Hi Spidermama,
DS got a small (10% scholarship) at his prep school when he moved into year 3. He had been there since reception and it was an internal exam. That year they chose to give out lots of little scholarship awards rather than just a few decent ones. We managed to 'persuade' them to add on a 20% bursary too.

He sat a scholarship exam for a private sixth form college last November (to start September just gone) and was awarded an academic scholarship which was worth approximately 30% of his fees.

Definitely worth applying for. Have you applied yet? Exams are normally over winter months to start the following September.

Good luck to your DD

Is the girls' school part of the GDST? I know a family with a daughter at the one in Brighton who has a free place as her mum is a single parent with a very low income. The DD is bright but not ace the exam bright IYSWIM and the no fees thing was means tested.

The secondary sections to DD's school do something similar, so if you can get her through the exam the fees assistance may wel be based on your income. At DD's school the non-means tested scholarships are tiny and about the kudos rather than money off.

spidermama
i don't know where you live, but papers in London are currently carrying adverts for this, and it may be worth looking into. I think the schools are having a bit of a drive because of threats to their 'charitable' status.
you have my sympathies. my stomach starts to churn when i think about school fees.
www.feeassistancelondonschools.org.uk

Mumoverseas I have applied and the test is in January. I just wondered, realistically, what the chances are as I want to be straight with her and myself.

Marialuisa that's the one!

It's such a lovely school. I fear that the people with single parents and lower incomes will have a better chance. My dh is an actor so his wages vary from year to year. We really struggle to make ends meet and have a big mortgage, another debt which we were forced to run up in order to fix the crumbling windows, and four children. I don't know if they take these things into account when looking at bursaries. They didn't on the form so I put it in the covering letter but probably won't be taken into account.

My youngest starts school full time in January so I will be able to look for work then. I do bits and pieces of freelance work but they are laying people off so competition is fierce.

My eldest goes to Christ's Hospital where everyone pays means tested fees, competition is high - at least 4 applicants for every place. Big downside is that it is boarding only.

The local independent schools to me offered bursaries of 10% so at price of £9k per year in year 7 still far beyond our reach.

The major PLUS side for me vis a vis Christ's Hospital School is that it is boarding only. I do think boarding, more than anything else, gives children that edge which, eventually, turns them into self-confident, self-reliant and robust individuals.

If only there were more state boarding schools; there are precious few, but we are seriously considering them at the moment. 50k per year for our two is, unforuntantely, out of our league.

I have to say CH is not state nor free, we actually still be a significant part of our income to them. We get enhanced CTC and effectively it goes straight to the school which then by default means that we have little disposable income.

However the education my dd is getting and the experience is amazing. What I find fantastic is that some parents still choose to send their dc their even though they have to pay full fees it truly is filled with people from all walks of life.

I couldn't, wouldn't contemplate boarding school in a million years even with a 100% bursary. I just don't get it. I want to be with my children and provide a home for them.

Spidermama the alternative was a school that came bottom of Surrey league tables for 4 years running was on the list of one of the worst in the country etc. Stuck between a rock and a hard place.

They're actually only at school 50% of the time speak to her every day etc etc but some of my other children would not cope with or enjoy boarding and would not have sent them IYSWIM. I do love the fact that school is school and home is home - no homework just quality time to spend time together etc

cargirl, is everything OK at CH now? I'm abroad at the moment but saw on skynews last week that it was closed due to piggy flu. Hope all ok there

spidermama, so are you in Brighton then? Not far from our UK base and we're thinking of moving down that way as DS1 at a boarding school not too far from Brighton

I had people over for lunch last weekend and one of them was a CH pupil. He was a delightful boy, and spent plenty of quality time with his parents. I think he had one exeat in three, along with all the holidays.

My teenage children are all at day schools, but we really only see them for meals, or times when I am badgering them to do homework and chores.

Yes they all got sent home for a week , well a big happy from me as dd wasn't ill so it was an extra weeks holiday. They went back on Sunday anyone with any symptoms was turned away though - I think about 60 did not return???

One of the pupils is still very unwell and in hospital was on 100% oxygen for a week and is still on IV antibiotecs and they had no underlying health problems and they've run lots of tests and it is just pig flu!!!

School definately made the right decision, whole place has been deep cleaned by the staff. Lots of staff were unwell too.

Spidermama iirc where you are I went ot that one , many moons ago !

glad all ok cargirl. I'm dreading it happening at DD's or DS's schools (Surrey and Sussex) as if they get sent home I'll no doubt have to fly home

Not unsurprisingly it started off in the 6th form houses where they live a bit more independently ready to go off to uni.......I think perhaps too many late nights and not eating as well made them more prone to it!

I suppose most CH pupils are fairly local or at least in the UK.

Just a thought, but might it help if DD has an interest/talent in something? My kids are younger so don't have first hand experience, but seems that there will be a lot of competition for places, so if, for example she is interested in languages/singing/ it may help?

Yes ilovemydogandobama there are scholarships for sport and music neither of which she'll get. Hers would have to be purely on academic potential. She's very bright but I would imagine competition is fierce.

Thanks all for your help on this. I'll carry on with the bits and pieces of prep I can do and then see what happens.

Are you within distance of Old Palace in Croydon? The Whitgift Foundation offer substantial bursaries for both boys and girls, and I think that around half the children have some sort of fee remission. This page shows the level of bursary available based on parental income.

Spidermama I think you are right not to consider boarding! as someone who went to a boarding school myself i can categorically say it has NOT made me into a robust individual - I wish. Of course it is probably fine for some children but for myself, and lots of others I know, it has left us with some deep held anxieties and insecurities. I was a not very grownup eleven year old when I went, I needed my Mum in so many ways and she wasnt there.

I would never in a million years consider it for my children. I might consider private day school though, but we wont be able to afford it I dont think. I wish you and your daughter the best of luck though! (I am also an only girl with 3 brothers)

The GDST bursary scheme looks to be less generous.

iirc fees at GDST schools are already subsidised to an extent by the charity to which they belong. Do they still take boarders - I longed to be one !

Thanks Ladymuck. This sentence confuses me:

Most bursaries will be awarded to students from families with a total income of less than £16,500 per year and with no capital assets other than their home. It is highly unlikely that a bursary would be awarded to a family whose gross income is more than £48,000 other than in exceptional circumstances.

I can honestly say I don't know anyone in Brighton with a household income under 16.5 thousand a year. Then there's quite an enormous leap between 16 and 48 thousand. I am somewhere in between so I find it confusing to know what to expect.

You'd have to speak to the bursar of the particular school but most would operate a sliding scale of fee discounts within that income range. Bearing in mind it is a national charity what criteria applies to one school, may not apply to another. 48k is fairly generous ime for bursaries in SE.

Hey spidermama, greetings from sunny Sydney! I can't believe baby spider is starting school (I remember him as a toddler) and biggest spider is heading for secondary!!!! The only person I know who got a 100% free place at that school was the child of a single parent on a very low income. It's definitely your best best locally for an assisted place though; reading the above would suggest they may offer a percentage off fees based on your income between 16k and 48k. I'm guessing it's the "Brighton lottery" otherwise?

Spidey, don't laugh, but Roedean offer VERY generous assisted day girl places to those with a Brighton postcode currently in state system. I know it for a fact.