100 % academic Scholarships

[ComfortFoodCafe]

Wondering if anyone knows of any schools that offer 100 % academic scholarships.

My 9 year old son is exceptionally academic with maths & science. He is working years above his peers to the point his mainstream primary school have said there is nothing more to teach him currently on the cirrculum as he knows it. (Hes currently working at KS3 for science & maths when hes in year 5.)
I know mainstream senior school isnt the answer & no schools around me (durham) offer a 100 % academic scholarship. Is anyone aware of any scholarships?
We are even considering trying for Eton college but the distance is worrying me slightly.

Apply for a place at Queen Elizabeth grammar school in Barnet. It's a top state school in the country and totally free. The exam is very hard and extremely competitive, but given his ability, he should have no problems getting in. The other great schools are Latymer and Wilson's.
BTW, just wanted to add, many families move houses if their child gets in to QE, so worth keeping in mind now. But you can apply from wherever you live now, it doesn't have a catchment (but I think the other 2 schools do).

Try to avoid identifying yourself on this thread, @ComfortFoodCafe…

Opps, good point I should of gone with a NC!

Thank you all for your wonderful advice, i have written it all down and its been extremely helpful, I feel more confident now with the choices we need to make. I think I might be best getting this removed.

How is your child socially? Is he likely to thrive in an environment with big confident characters or retreat into his shell? What kind of school do you think he'd be happiest in?

I wouldn't go for Newcastle School for Boys if he's as academic as you say. They aren't really selective at all. Also, they are now taking girls which might indicate financial difficulties and falling numbers. Certainly there are rumours about that.

You could look at Dame Allan's too, but RGS is the most selective of all of the Newcastle schools.

Honestly OP I wouldn't be looking at schools in Newcastle unless you are able to move closer. You will spend at least an hour each way driving between Durham and Gosforth/Jesmond, the traffic during rush hour is unbelievable. That will be at least four hours every school day, it'll be miserable, unfair on your other DC and will impact on your family time a lot.
Both of my DC went to the schools in our village then A levels at Johnson/Durham 6th form and are now doing STEM degrees at excellent universities (Durham & Bath).
Keep facilitating and encouraging your DC's wider interests so that they don't become bored or frustrated. And once they get to secondary school they'll be set by ability and will be with peers that they can socialize with outside of school. No chance of doing that if their classmates are based around Newcastle!

Durham Johnstone is excellent, but she said she wasn't in the catchment area. I mean, if she could get him in there that would be an ideal solution. Lots of very bright children there and they get very good results.

OP, you child could go to RGS on the train and metro. If you can drop him off at Durham station it's fairly easy from there and there are a lot of children who travel from Durham. No need for you to be driving into Newcastle. So something to think about. As this poster says it would be an absolute nightmare!

There's no need to be in the catchment area for Durham Johnston to go there for 6th form. They select by GCSE results so existing pupils who don't meet the threshold will leave and YP from outside catchment with good grades are accepted.
The train service between Durham and Newcastle has been reduced to only two trains between 8 & 9am, it's also quite unreliable.

@ComfortFoodCafe Look at the Radley College Keys Award. Up to 110% bursary and they will fund private prep school prior to joining as well!

https://www.radley.org.uk/apply/the-keys-award/

Definitely apply to more than one school - there are lots of schools that offer 100% bursaries to exceptional pupils and your DS sounds like he could be a good fit. They will all be means tested (they will ask about income but it is all confidential). Eton is a good fit for some, but it's a long way from Durham. Also maybe contact: St Peter's York, Barnard Castle School, Sedbergh School, Ripon Grammar, Durham School, as they are all closer. Stonyhurst College also have a large foundation that provides these type of places. Do contact the Royal Springboard Foundation as they can help you with applications. https://www.royalspringboard.org.uk/
Good Luck!

I've known lots of extremely bright kids go to bog standard comprehensives and make it to Oxford / top professions. If you can do extra learning at home and motivate him, he doesn't need to go to a top private school. Also I'd be wary of sending a child with Type 1 diabetes to boarding school. My brother has diabetes and as a teenager he didn't stick to a diabetic diet (rebelled), and I think if mum hadn't been able to keep close tabs on him, it could have been catastrophic. He's good now and avoids sugary drinks etc.

Yarm Independant is also one to consider as its around half an hour away depending on which side of Durham you are (they do have buses from Sedgefield, Wynyard and Heighington but not Durham), it is second only to RGS in Newcastle in north east independant school secondary rankings and offers up to 100% bursaries, there are always more kids apply for them than they can accommodate though, but they only offer bursaries from year 7 up unfortunately (which is a shame as the prep is fantastic for a bright child who isnt being challenged elsewhere). You can sit the entry exam for as many schools as you want to apply to and see who offers a place/what level of bursary they award.

I would look at RGS and Yarm- those are the two NE independents that really can get the most out of your DC. NSB (not for much longer- it’s going co-ed) is a slightly different kettle of fish. It’s more of a nurturing environment to those that need it IYSWIM. Yarm is opening up a bus service to Durham now so it might be an option.

Durham High is now co-ed and the Durham Cathedral Schools has recently undergone a merger with Chorister, Bow and Durham School. Neither of them are as immune from the VAT and NI issues as Yarm and RGS imo.

It’s a shame about Johnson, it really is an outstanding school for the top performers and your DC would do as well there as anywhere really.

Durham Maths School has been delayed a couple of years already, just like the Nottingham one and last time I looked I think it was opening in 2027 or 2028 at the earliest.

I believe that the government has put a hold on such new academy schools opening pending a review.

Although the 1729 maths school hasn't opened yet, it sounds like it will be amazing.

It's being bankrolled by a billionaire who has donated £25m to maths education in the UK. His company is one of the main supporters of the UK Maths School Network which comprises of nine maths schools and unlike those schools, the 1729 school is from 11-18.

The bursaries and scholarships look very generous with over £2m per year available.

Definitely worth looking into @ComfortFoodCafe .

If you're willing to move for the right school, you might want to consider Liverpool. The Blue Coat School doesn't have a catchment area, so you could apply now and not have to worry about moving into catchment by a certain date and disrupting his primary education, which is a potential issue with moving house for a grammar school. It's a state school and also has 26 places for the highest scoring kids on FSM. The first exam is at the end of Year Five though, so you'd need to apply in summer term of Year Five.
We also have a Maths School at the University of Liverpool which is a possibility for Sixth Form, and they run lots of enrichment activities for mathematical kids in KS3 and KS4.