Bursaries for independent schools

[clutteredup]

Does anyone know how little do you need to earn to be eligible? Our local independent school offers a bursary scheme for 'those who would otherwise not consider private school for financial reasons.'
DH earns a good salary, he's a civil servant which means he won't be getting a pay rise and will essentially be getting a pay cut due to increased pension contributions - I'm not moaning we're very lucky thta his job is currently safe, but we couldn't ever contemplate affording private school fees. We don't go on holiday abroad, caravan in Cornwall at easter and visit family in Summer. So its not like we have a luxurious lifestyle or have major areas we could cut back on to afford the fees. But on paper our salary looks good.
Is it worth applying for a bursary or do we have to accept that we are too comfortably off to be helped but not wealthy enough to afford the fees.
Am only considering this as an option as we have a secondary school which is on the borderline of going into special measures and looking for optional back up if we don't get a place at school 5 miles away out of catchment which is a decent school. DS is very bright and needs a school which apsires to more than just a couple of GCSE passes.
Don't want to start a private school debate just wondering if anyone knows about this at all.

Clutteredup I too agree with you, we are on a moderate income, after taking into account our mortgage and house hold bills etc we have very little left. We don't go on holiday and drive around in an old car but yet we don't qualify for a large bursary because we earn what is considered to be a middle income. If we were on a low income the government would make up my money to not a lot less than we currently take home after tax and we would qualify for a larger bursary. I am now writing to numerous trusts to try and find help to support our very talented child who was awarded the top scholarship at a very good school. I feel very disappointed with the whole system as the likes of us who thankfully manage to get by without claiming benefits always get kicked in the teeth.

I agree ratherfedup the system stinks! Its the middle earners who get punished every time. I would be interested to know what sort of places you are approaching for funding. Have you been back to the school and asked for more bursary? - if not its worth a try because they are more likely to give you more with a very talented child regardless of income - they will want the child if they think they will get brilliant results - worth a try? Good Luck with it all!

Many, many people are getting priced out of private education.

The size of the school's bursary pot and what existing calls there are upon it will also be factors. Plus how many others are applying for bursaries.

All you can do is apply, cross your fingers and hope for the best! (And tell DS from the outset that it's a long shot, but nothing ventured, nothing gained).

< yearns nostalgically for the days of assisted places >

Join the stretched-to-the-limit middle earners' club! We were offered an 80% bursary for our very able DS1 (reception) to attend a prep school - they were very impressed with his ability at assessment, however they didn't stretch him and refused to accommodate his needs once he was there (he is borderline autistic spectrum, probably Asperger's) and school was a disaster, making him very anxious and stressed (not like him at all) so we moved him to a state school where he is happy and thriving (and goes up with the Yr1 class 3 times a week) I know one local independent secondary specifies that bursaries of around 20% are available only to those whose household income is below £20,000 (as if those on £25K could afford £11K/year fees!)

ratherfedup, you should go back to the school and see if they can offer you a bursary. Sometimes the schools have a bit of discretion and can offer more, particularly if they want your child to attend, which obviously they do if they have already offered a very good scholarship (well done!). From experience the trusts that offer educational grants tend to only offer them for certain occupations and/or if your child is already at the school and perhaps in exam years.

I'm afraid its a rather laborious process of trawling through the Educational grants directory and finding appropriate trusts to write to. We had to do it for my child's present school which sadly my child finishes at this year as its a prep school. Raising the extra money this way is possible but is rather like a rollercoaster. Some of you might say why bother to send your child to an independent school when you can't afford it, sadly our state schools do not provide the specialist training musically talented children need. My child has been awarded a very generous scholarship and a bursary but this doesn't cover boarding.
Unless you are on a low income you are generally expected to contribute towards the fee's, which is fair.

Make sure that you are talking about income in the same way as the school. If you take a look at the link below, (City of London School for Girls, you can see that the income figure is a 'disposable income' figure which is pretty generous in taking into account all the things that reduce your gross salary figure.
www.clsg.org.uk/page/?title=bursaries&pid=76

twolittlemonkeys thats such a shame with your experience of the independent school system. My childs present school is fantastic and very nurturing, your son would have fitted in very well. Its great you have found the right school for him now.
I have another child that goes to a state school and its a perfect fit also.

Dustylaw that is very generous and it just shows how much different schools vary

"if we lived 5 miles away from here where the good school is we'd not be having this conversation...."

Move?

That's what we did (though in our case, a LOT further than five miles!)

Where we used to live in London, the roads nearest the most popular schools were nearly all rental properties that had high turnover, people would leave their home/rented place, rent for a while just to get into the schools and then move back again.

The property prices near those schools were also higher, though not sure how the price difference compared with private school fees.

When considering bursaries, schools are not just looking at the academic ability of the child, they are also looking at just how much the child AND the family can bring to the school...

But bear in mind hat in these straightened times, priority may well go to children who have had several years in the school but whose families have suffered a downturn in income.

There are just so many variables.

Sorry - hate to ask silly q's but we are in a similar situation.

I don't understand why indipendent schools aren't flooded with applications from families who want a private education for their DC's but can't quite afford it. I live in central London and all the state schools close to me are pretty poor, there must be thousands of families on less than £40k who would be eligible for some sort of bursary living around here?

Many people don't believe in private education, a lot of people don't know that bursaries are available and others find it very embarrassing to admit that they can't afford things.

Its intrusive and hard work getting together all the information required for a bursary, I guess that might put quite a few people off. I think in the end it comes down to how much a particular school wants your child, if your child has a lot to offer and whether your child will benefit from all the opportunity's that particular school has to offer. It really is worth a try , as long as your child understands you may not be able to afford the fee's even if a bursary's is offered and you have a back up plan that your child is happy with, if they can't go to their chosen school.

Additionally even with a bursary there are all the "compulsory" trips, uniform - the costs are ridiculously high and other additional costs that tend to creep in.

Sportsmum can you explain the other additional costs you talk about? I'm interested as i'm thinking of private secondary for my dd next year. I specifically asked the school about additional costs and was told the compulsary trips cost no more that £30 a turn approx 4 per year, obviously we can budget for the uniform but we thought that was it!

[GULP] Yes I suppose peer pressure is an issue for the older kids. She'll have to be warned early on I suppose !!!

At dds school they have compulsory outward bound type trips for between 1-2 weeks, some just a week of day trips but this year it is 10 days residential. Costs are in the region of £200-£400 per year. We also have books & stationary to purchase (average over £100 per year). Some schools include this in fees. There are loads of optional trips such as language exchanges, geography field trips etc, but I think that these also happen in the state sector for similar costs.

Hi Chooshoes as has already been said, there are a number of "optional" trips that they can do that would be "valuable" for certain GCSEs - eg Iceland for Geography, European Exchanges for MFLs, Battle fields for history, etc as well as the compulsory ones.

In addition there are the ski trips, which don't come in cheap - though as you quite rightly say you can brief your DD about before hand. As we all know peer pressure is hard and whilst it is hard to hear your child tell a friend that he can't do a particular activity because his parents can't afford it, it does make you feel proud of them.

Indie school uniform is much more expensive than state or even GS uniform - in many case ridiculously so - a friend has had to pay - over £30 for a school jumper and £90 for a blazer . I don't know about sports kit requirements for girls...

Music lessons and ballet aren't cheap either if your DD is interested in that.

I'm not against Indies at all - however it is always helpful to know a little about the hidden extras.

Hi, cluttered. These days only the outright rich can afford fees. That said, I'd warn you fairly strongly against putting choice of school above everything; it's very difficult to know from outside what they are really like, and they are not always worth the misery the fees can cause.

That depends, if there academic then yes a good grammar school is a great choice, but that's if you can get in. I'm sure our local grammar hes well over 600 applicants for 150 places.
Music, well unless its musical theater your into then you will find its not well catered for in state schools and you'll probable end up finding good teachers outside of school, which makes it an even longer day if you have to travel around to music teachers, music theory lessons and orchestras.
Private schools cater well for classical music and most seem to have very good teachers that come into school, not to mention all the orchestras, woodwind band, choirs, chamber choirs etc that a good private school has. We haven't had a holiday in a number of years, we have a tatty car and shop at Primark, but for me, I wouldn't change any of it because of the extra opportunity's it has given my child.