Can I be doing anything to boost chances of scholarship? Yr2 DD6

[calici]

Hello

My DD is 6 years old, currently in year 2. In terms of extra curriculars, she does karate, swimming, rainbows, and art lessons (because she is passionate about art).

At school, her teacher says her reading and maths are at the expected level. We read daily before bed.

We would love for her to attend a local independent school from year 7, but I was wondering if there is anything we ought to be doing from now to increase our chances of admittance?

In terms of scholarships, we would aim for an art and academic scholarship to help with fee reduction.

You need to give more details like the name of the school because competitiveness obviously varies between schools and there’s a good chance that somebody on here will know how likely passing the tests and interview might be.

Sure, its Haileybury in Hertfordshire.

Could you increase your family income by Yr 7 to pay the fees?

I am under the impression that these days scholarships aren't worth so much, but you could also apply for bursaries.

Probaby, but probably not by a huge amount as we are both quite senior at what we do (we both work in pharma). Every little helps I guess!

You can’t really fake being academic or artistic. But there will be tutors in your area that will hothouse for the entrance/scholar exam. Do some art classes or a club to put together a portfolio.

Realistically if she isn’t showing academic excellence already you may be flogging a dead horse.

How much of a reduction do they currently offer? It tends to be 10/20 % so helpful but not massive.

I would agree with PP that tutoring is your best bet really. It doesn’t sound like she’s particularly advanced academically if she’s working at expected levels - I have a Y2 who is greater depth across the board and I don’t think he’s scholarship material really. So tutoring is probably the only thing you can do if you’re looking for an academic scholarship.

What does academic excellence look like for a 6 year old? And would private tutoring be that helpful from such an early age, as opposed to say when they are a little older (yr4/5)? Just worried about burnout from a young age.

I'm guessing "academic excellence" would look like them working beyond she related expectations.

But at 6 it's still quite early to know.

Don't set your heart in Haileybury, it might not be the right school for your daughter. Look bursaries at other schools like Queenswood or whatever nearer the time.

Could you get her into a prep school that feeds the Pvte school from year 5? The standard of what is expected for an academic scholar and even an art scholar is so very high.

also the fee reduction is usually 10% and you’re looking at something like perhaps one scholarship of 10% and maybe just an exhibition award for the other / no monetary value.

Does the school actually offer these scholarships? Given the changes in VAT and fees how likely are they to still be offering them in 4/5 years time? It’s a lot to be relying on.

Most children in year 2 are working at expected levels.

https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/key-stage-1-and-phonics-screening-check-attainment/2022-23

it doesn’t scream scholarship material, but a lot will depend on how competitive the schools are you are looking at.

@caliciAt this age, I’d be expecting an academically excellent child to be working beyond their age group across the board really. So reading longer books (a couple of the children in my DS’ class are reading Harry Potter for example) with fluency and comprehension, easily completing KS2 Maths problems, demonstrating a passion for learning about new topics (my DS has, for example, an encyclopaedic knowledge of world flags which he studied himself). I don’t know how much of that is tutorable and I, like you, would be wary of tutoring from such a young age though.

Haileybury have sample tests for maths and English for their normal entrance on their website.

can’t comment on the English one, but the maths one (for year 6 children) is significantly harder than ks2 sats.

it comes in two sections, one of which is roughly equivalent in difficulty and type of question to ks2 sats. The second part pushes up into ks3 - the sort of stuff that used to be on the level 6/greater depth ks2 sats paper when it existed.

I’d expect the scholarship papers to be a lot harder.

re what would you expect at this age, for example this is the grade 1 Singapore maths challenge paper (for age 6).

https://simcc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/2023-Singapore-Math-Challenge-Grade-1.pdf

You can do plenty to make sure she doesn't think it’s incredibly important she gets a scholarship…..

I’d expect her to be working to a level above her peers. So free reading and top of the class for maths.

Id see how’s she’s doing in a couple of years and not get hung up on any particular school as yet. It might not suit her to go to a selective academic school.

Have you looked at VR and NVR - Bond papers?

It's a while off so things could change, but for now, there isn't a separate scholarship paper for Haileybury at yr 7 entrance, so those papers online are your best guide to what you need to be able to do (in a few years time of course!)
There will only be a few academic scholars in an intake of 60, so you do need to be at the top of the pile to get one.

Haileybury have a big reading programme for the LS, so I think reading before bed is the best thing you can do and be age appropriate - can she read out loud, in her head, listen to more complex stories you read, discuss what she's reading with you, make inferences etc.

I also don't think Haileybury offer art scholarships for yr 7 entry, though it's a while since I checked, so it's worth you investigating more if you're hanging your hat on that. I think they might do them for yr 9 entry only.

As helpful other posters have said above - scholarships these days rarely give you much money off, some no money at all - just the opportunity for academic scholarship extension work. The only way of knowing if your DD is gong to be academically eligible is when you get her CAT test scores done in year 4 onwards (these are completely different to SATs done in state schools). They are diagnostic tests that measure inherent aptitude. Extra reading, extra maths is always helpful but really you need to assess her own natural aptitude and don't stress about her performing brilliantly in exams so you can get money off. She may be better off elsewhere! The only significant help you can get for reducing fees is to apply for a bursary - which are means tested and you have to declare all income and assets. Happy for you to PM me if you want to discuss this more!

Haileybury are a big hockey school so I would probably get your daughter playing hockey as that could, potentially, be a scholarship route if she proves to be talented at it.

Scholarships for lots of schools are not actually worth that much. Our dd has just been offered a sports scholarship and it’s £2k per year off a £20k fee. A friend’s child has been awarded academic, sport and art and it’s £3.5k in total for all 3. Our fees have also gone up astronomically in the past 4 years so if you would be scraping by at the fees as they are now, unless your income is likely to increase I would give it careful thought.

My DD got an academic scholarship offer - she was working at greater depth from Y3. Can’t remember results from before. The offer is 10%. I heard some arts scholarships are even lower or just art materials.
our academic scholarship will be reassessed after 3 years and is not guaranteed.

Op there are also more creative scholarships in some schools eg our school has an art one as well as an academic one.

It is also worth looking at bursary income thresholds to see if you qualify for them as different schools set these at different levels.

Also important to prioritise making sure your dd has an enjoyable childhood without pressure while she is young and as time goes on you will be able to see what school will suit her best given her personality, academic aptitude and interests and what is financially doable.

I'm a firm believer in the importance of reading - to them and by themselves. If they are naturally motivated, that is great, if not you can model it at home. My DS is in year 2. He is fascinated by space and will read adult books e.g. by Hawkins to himself. His knowledge is vastly superior to mine and he can apply it, not just recite facts. Reading boosts their language and vocabulary skills but also their world knowledge, especially if they read a range of fiction and non-fiction.

She’s 6. Let her be a 6 year old.