Scholarships for private - Surrey

[NotLactoseFree]

Does anyone have any useful insight on scholarships for Surrey private schools particularly in the Ashtead/epsom area? I've been on a few websites - St Johns, Ewell Castle, Freemans and they all talk about scholarships but they're vague on amounts - some say 5-10%.

Is it even possible to get higher value scholarships?

We can't afford private and we are looking at grammar schools for DD. But she really wants to go to a co-ed school and the grammar schools are all single sex. We're also keen on a wide variety of extracurricular, particularly arts/drama/music/dance as that's something she's passionate about. Realistically, I don't think we'll get bigger scholarships via means testing so I don't think we'll get scholarships based on that but while DD is smart and I feel cautiously optimistic that she could get into most schools on a selective basis, I don't think she's the sort of student who will be at the top of every test, so I'm assuming if there are more comprehensive scholarships, theyre for children who are super high performers?

I might start contacting the schools directly but wondered if anyone has any advice or experience?

Yes 5-10% is normal for a scholarship. With VAT on fees on the way bursary programmes are under pressure, no one knows what schools will be able to offer if they have to pick up the Vat on current bursary students.
Concentrate on the many state options you have where you live, you can move from single sex to mixed for sixth form. Private schooling will become the option for the very rich only in the near future.

Plus Ewell Castle is not comparable to Epsom College / St John's academically.

True re Ewell Castle but it's improving. Epsom College we're not interested in. St Johns would be our preference.

We do have excellent state schools, and excellent grammar schools. So that's great and I don't feel hard done by if we go to them. But the private schools would be our ideal option vs the grammar or state. Although we are looking at St Josephs - not catholic though so bit 50/50 if we get in.

Just fund the extra curriculars outside of school and use state, where you know teachers will be qualified

Search for bursaries rather than scholarships.

Scholarships are awarded on academic merit and are more about the honour. Someone from a rich family could win one, they are not means-tested.

Bursaries are based on financial need and are open to anyone who meets the entry criteria, you don't have to be top-student in every test. They are rarely 100% but are often nearer 50% - they usually prefer to enable 2 pupils from middle-income families to attend rather than one from a very low income family.

It is possible to have both a scholarship and a bursary.

If you have a bursary the amount will always be a lot less than you wish it was. You will be expected to take yoir lifestyle expectations down several pegs.

E.g. on the St Johns website there's a section on scholarships and then the a separate section called "Help with the fees" deals with bursaries.

My experience from my DC and hearing about their friends was that academic scholarships range from 5-15%, with one outlier at 50% (but that was over 5 years ago).

Some DC had multiple scholarships (music, art, sport, drama) that added up to about 20% - I think this was mainly one school, but a few other schools offered academic scholarships and one other (like music) that also added up.

St Johns have been known to offer up to 25% academic scholarships but the fees are so high that even with this discount it's more expensive than some of the single sex schools out there. Perhaps try CLFS? I think their fees are quite low for a co-ed (and I believe its a pretty good school too).

@NotLactoseFree , since April 2024 private schools have had to pay an extra 5% of teachers salaries into the teachers pension (TP) scheme if they participate in that scheme, that's from 23% to 28% of teacher's salaries. At the moment from Jan 2025 they will have to pay VAT on schools fees and pass on what they consider possible (from 10 to 20% of fees) to parents and pay business rates.

In the state sector the 5% increase in TP employer contribution has been met by the tax payer.

School fees are only going 1 way and if you can't afford full fees now then don't get sucked into situations with 10 or 20% off here or there. Over the next 5 years school fees are going to by sky high and the outstanding state schools in Surrey are going to be full.

As a CLFS parent scholarships tend to be small whereas bursaries are big. Scholarships aren’t really used as a financial aid anymore. Used to be there was no bursaries and just moderately sized scholarships way back in the day but new (not new now really) head is focused on finding children who would never be able to go to these schools without large bursaries. It might change with VAT but that’s the situation as I understand it at the moment.

Thanks all. At the end of the day, we do have great state school options (grammar and comprehensive) so I'm not feeling too hard done by. It's more that a school that would tick all her boxes would be private, but it's not like the compromise is really that onerous. We'll keep looking at grammars as well asthe two co-ed state schools in the area - St Andrews or Blenheim. St Andrews obviously better academically but only 50/50 chance of getting in. Blenheim less academic but looks like a well rounded school that's on the up academically (I know families at both schools and we'll start the round of open days this year).

Try royal Albert and Alexander in reigate?

Or get a job in a private school where you are usually entitled to a 50% discount.

Why exactly would "a school that would tick all her boxes would be private"?

I looked at 27 schools for DD for secondary across sectors, and there were only 2 that ticked all the boxes (in slightly different ways).

One was a boarding place at a top Public school and the other was the comprehensive she is now at. None of the others came close and it was a no brainer to opt out of the school fees pathway.