Why are they interviewing us again? Bursary at Private school.

[cherrycherriess]

Hi all,

My DC started at a local private school two years ago. We applied for a bursary at the time, filled in all the forms, and had a video interview with the external bursary company, which went fine—they just went through our application and asked questions about our spending etc.

Last year, the process was different—it was all done online via the school portal, and we were emailed the outcome directly from the school. No interview that time, nothing from BAL.

This year, we’ve followed the same process through the portal, but I’ve just had an email from the external bursary company asking to arrange a video call next week. I’m feeling a bit anxious about it, as not much has changed in our circumstances and I’m not sure why they’re involved again when they weren’t last year.

Has anyone else had this happen? Is it normal for them to dip in and out like this? Just feeling a bit unsettled by it.

Thanks in advance!

Reassessment every year is standard, and a good thing. You’d be amazed the number of people who try to scam their way to a bursary place.

if nothing has changed in terms of income, properties owned etc, you have nothing to worry about.

Thank you. I do know we get reassessed every year but just curious as to why last year we weren’t interviewed but this year we are?

How are your dc's grades? If they've dropped that can trigger a more detailed assessment

They’ve actually improved massively! They’ve always been good, but this term most were 9s and 8s.

They maybe just pick a few families at random to interview or maybe they do a video call every other year🤷‍♀️my children all attended private school on a bursary and the yearly check changed several times. At first I didn’t have to produce bank statements but one year they requested the last 4 months bank statements and my mortgage statement.

Maybe they just do a 'light touch' review one year and a more thorough one the next - perhaps alternated? It would be a way of keeping their costs down, but still hopefully picking up any significant changes (or fraud).

My understanding is that bursaries are reviewed annually. I suspect given the new VAT rules and other financial pressures on both parents and schools they will be scrutinised more closely.

If your circs haven’t changed then it shouldn’t be a problem.