Significant Bursary drop - Can I get report from the Bursary Company?

[poet123]

Hi,
Child is in a London private secondary school on a part bursary. Yr 7 bursary was 60%, yr 8 it was 50%, this year have been told that bursary will be 20%.

I am aware that the bursary can change if there is a significant financial change in one's circumstances. But in my case financial situation has not changed as such, nor have any assets, only a £2000 salary rise by the company this year ( given inflation).

The school use a company called Bursary Assessment Associates (BAA) to make a report which they then submit to the school and the school decide the bursary.

Does anyone know if we parents can have access to see what report was sent to the school by BAA ( as the drop just doesn't make sense - could they have made a mistake)? How do I go about it? Do I just ask the company to send me a copy?

Any thoughts would be helpful.
Thanks.

You can definitely ask why the drop has happened. It’s ok to ask whether it’s due to any suggestion your financial situation has improved (and explain it hasn’t) or if due to a smaller pot available for bursaries. Many schools are cutting bursaries because they don’t have the funding level they had post VAT (fewer pupils enrolling generating fewer fees, pupil departures, schools subsidising some of the VAT from school funds).

Bursaries are being cut due to VAT, it's risky to have to rely on them in this climate. That's why we have said all along that the policy will make independent schools more elitist!

Bursaries are often linked to grades and performance at school. Have you looked at his grades?

This. Schools had one of two options:

(A) cut all current and future bursaries to try and support as many as possible
(B) suspend bursaries for all new starters from 2026 to protect the bursaries already on offer.

DDs school went with B.

Essentially it means that no working class parent can send their child to the school anymore. Of DD1s friendship group I’d say over half are on some form of support - lots of incredibly relieved parents at the gates when the announcement was made to protect existing bursaries (because otherwise they’d have had to withdraw their children) but awful for those who now can’t go.

I think it’s something like 30% of all current students receive some form of financial aid for fees. So it’s going to cripple the school in the long term…

I do intend to write to the bursar. But am more keen to see the Bursary report by the company? That's why was asking if that is something I can just ask BAA for?

It just does not make sense. Especially as the child is doing extremely well , in fact is top in the year academically.

It does make sense in context of VAT when most likely the school us experiencing higher volumes of applications for bursaries.

You are entitled to make a subject access request to the company to request the report. They are required to share all the information they hold on you including the report.

You should call the bursar and ask.
i know several schools where they have halved the levels available because of the vat increase.

Completely agree. I suspect that this isn’t at all a reflection on your ability to pay the fees or on your child’s performance, but is about the school’s inability to carry on providing a bursary of the same size as before. I hope you can get it sorted OP.

Looking into the Subject Access Request on BAA site.

www.bursaryassessmentassociates.co.uk/privacy-policy/

It mentions under ' how we use your date' section' that - The confidential report produced by Bursary Assessment Associates is the property of the client school and this report is regarded by the ICO as exempt from subject access requests.

Would this mean that I should make the request to see the report to the school rather than directly to BAA? Not sure if the school will share it though.....

Thanks.

Do you work full time? If not, wondered if they would expect you to increase your working hours as your teen gets older. Is there any outward sign that you are receiving financial support not otherwise captured, such as child going on expensive foreign holidays with an ex or grandparents providing new / expensive cars or paying for expensive optional school trips?

IME bursaries are not tied to attainment

The confidential report produced by Bursary Assessment Associates is the property of the client school and this report is regarded by the ICO as exempt from subject access requests.

I think this means that no one will share it with you. But it would be best to start by asking the school why it has been cut - if the answer is “because of VAT we had to cut all bursaries by £x” then you will have your answer that it is a change of policy and nothing to do with your numbers.

It is a bit rubbish they didn’t write to you first with reasons tbh - obvious question but have you checked your junk email or any post you might have missed?

You could do a subject access request?

My understanding is ( and see also the exemption that the company quotes) that a SAR would only provide the information that the company has on you (eg bank account details, salary level) which you probably gave them anyway. The report would be the company or client’s property and business approach - and would be about how they combine the factors to give a weighted score.

Hence I don’t think a SAR gives you the report.

Whose “property” the report may be is an entirely separate legal question from whether you have a right to request the personal data contained in it pursuant to a DSAR, and whether there is any exemption that means they wouldn’t have to hand it over.

IAAL who does a bit of data protection work and I’m not aware of and haven’t been able to find an exemption which would protect the company, or the school. And I’m a bit 🤨 that the company makes a vague reference to an exemption without saying what that exemption is.

So unless I’m missing something (possible) I think either/both would have to hand over all personal data from the report.

As others say, though, it’s more likely that the school has cut bursaries across the board rather than for some reason cut yours due to personal circumstances.

@KitsPoint thanks - IANAL :-)

Was my premise right that they might have to give OP the data, but not the details of what they did with it when writing the report (ranking against others, weighting of different aspects of income and assets etc)?

I have heard BAA wherever they stepped in, they completely destroyed the bursary system. A lot of people are in the same boat. Its quite disheartening for kids who have refused prestigious grammer schools and went private after 11+ due to bursaries and now these private schools are trying to squeeze them back when the kids or parents dont have the option to go back to grammer schools.

@Bursarieskid When DC was at school there were definitely families receiving bursaries who should have been looked at a bit more e.g. an older father paying nearly all his salary in pension contributions. One of the big changes was regarding academic and other scholarships which went from large percentage discounts, e.g. 30-50% to tiny amounts with the honour being in the title, so the school could spend the additional money where it was needed on bursaries.

When I went to school my parents (both in state education roles with relatively modest incomes) enquired about eligibility for bursaries.

The bursar admitted to them that the bursaries tended to go to the parents with the best accountants….!

So true, a friend got nothing despite both parents on low income but owned their home outright. It meant child had to decline place. Neighbour got full bursary, two accountant parents and owned own home. I wish I knew how to play the system more.