Bursaries for independent schools

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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.

If you can't afford it, you can't afford it.

amerryscot, I think your ethnicity is showing! :)

i've got children at private schools (bit of a stretch, hence dress like a tramp and never have exotic suntan and like many private school mothers). One of the things i've noticed is that children with bursaries seem to be enormously posh, more so than many of the fee paying bunch. maybe i'm imagining it. Has anyone else noticed that? Just wondering. Feel slightly suspicious that private schools only give them to people who they consider 'the right sort'.

Do schools really publish which pupils receive bursaries?

Do you have to give consent for that as part of the means-testing process?

I applied for one, and had to present bank statements, mortgage statement, say why I could not sell house to pay for fees, same for car etc - that was same for dp, and we had to disclose maintenance and any other income. I got it! 50% but other 50 is covered by staff bursary as I work there.

You have to give credit card statements too, and also agree to have your house valued, declaring any jewellery, art works, antiques. The process is utterly opaque, and not in any way open to external scrutiny. Time somebody investigated, IMHO.

And Garibaldigirl, I too have noticed how very very posh the bursary people are. I think the idea is Distressed Gentry. Poor things, they couldn't possibly send their dcs to a state school. The noise, my dear, and the PEOPLE.

The main source of the bursary income stream is apt to be Divorce. I actually know someone who got divorced to get one.

That said, I don't know of any schools who actually publish their bursary recipients' names. Overall figures usually include those on wincey little scholarships.

DS had a bursary and we aren't remotely posh, but we are well educated. His school though didn't cater for distressed gentlefolk, only distressed professionals/academics. I think a lot of bursaries did go to the children of divorced parents and the headmaster was also keen on keeping bursary money aside for keeping pupils at the school when one of their parents had died and their financial circumstances had changed.

I've posted recently about my very middle class friends whose son has received a 90% bursary for a £15,000 a year public school, and have managed to achieve this by keeping their income below £40,000. If both of them worked, him full time and her part-time (say 20 hours a week) they would earn over £40,000. But she is self employed and chooses not to work at that kind of level - hence they qualify for the bursary.

If a list of the recipients of bursaries is not published (and I think it's right that they're not), how on earth do you know who has got them? Even if some parents are happy to talk about their financial circumstances, you surely can't know about those who don't want to mention it, so can never have the full picture of what "type" of family they've gone to.

Hi there, I was reading these interesting posts I had no idea the option of bursary was available for an independent school. My DB is very bright and quite mature for his years. There are no decent schools in my area, i did consider a private school but ruled it out as my meagre earnings wouldn't afford it.
Does anyone also know whether I as a single mother on under £20k would be eligible for a bursary? Do you need to own property? Do you need to be married?

You sound like just the sort of family they are after, tbh. But be prepared to fill in a heck of a lot of forms - applying is like doing a tax return to the power of 10.

I am an expert on obtaining bursaries! This is a bit long winded but I hope it helps others. We have just been offered an enourmous bursary for Sept 2011 out of Englands most acedemically selective boys boarding school. We have a way above average income approx £80 000 most of it earned by my husband so he's taxed to the eyeballs but no where near enought to pay the the £30 000 + annual school fee bill. We also obtained a bursary for both of my children from a boarding prep school. Here are a few points.

1. In many cases your child has to have something going for them that the school wants this particulary applies to the less academicaly selective. In this results obsessed but financially strapped world many schools are competing amongst themselves for children, schools want children who are likely to obtain Oxbridge entry, win national music/sports competions etc. They can put these results on their webs sites and say look what a good school we are.
2. Secondly before doing anything speak to the bursar, be very honest and realistic about how much you are likely to need, if its a lot, ask if they have done bursaries of this size before. Dont be fooled by whats written on websites, for example Gordonstoun promise alot but are unable to deliver. We looked at Milton Abbey for my older son and they admitted that the maximum they offered was 30% not anywhere near enough for us.
3. I have found as a general principle the more famous and academic (thus oversubscribed) the school is the more likely you are to get a large bursary because they just simply have more money in the bank. St Pauls Boys have lead the way and bursaries are available to all who can meet their tough academic criteria, Eton and Winchester are also offering bursaries to boys who can do the same. The problem is that you have to be organised these three are selecting two years prior to entry (year 6) and you often have to be registered long before that.
4. With regard to assets if you own a house this is not ususally considered a problem although if you have a lot to equity in it it will be. Owing another house will be a problem a friend who owns two houses failed to get a bursary even though her annual income was low the school's agruement was sell the second house and then you can pay the school fees. When she stated that this was her pension they asked her what her priority was education for her children or money in old age. Sherbourne Boys details its criteria for bursaries very clearly on its website and I suspect this applies to most of the schools.
5. I know everyone complains about the forms but are they really that onerous? Ok they are intrusive but why not after all you are asking for a fee reduction. Yes many ask you about the car you drive etc but as one bursar said to me if parents are driving a new Range Rover I dont believe they dont meet the criteria for a bursary! Maybe it takes a couple of hours to fill them in and you have to find the relevent paperwork to prove you income etc. or lack of it but if at the end of the process you acheive at 60% reduction in fees then surely it worth it.

It is unclear how a family with an annual income of £80k would be entitled to an "enormous bursary" no matter what their child could offer a school.

If a child is particularly talented most schools will offer a non means tested scholarship and any shortfall is then made up with a bursary.

The schools I am considering for DD's 6th form cost around £27,000 per annum plus. I would be rather annoyed if a family on an income of £80,000 were offered an enormous fee rebate, it really is not what the bursary scheme is all about.

We looked at an independent school for DD and applied for a bursary because our income is way below the £40k mark that they set for applying. We were refused a bursary because a) Our mortgage is paid off and b) We have savings.

In spite of the savings being kept by as our pension because OH's pension fund went belly up, and at 59 is too short of time to earn sufficient money to make up the shortfall, we still couldn't get a bursary. Unfortunately the application for a bursary occurs at the same time that the children sit the exams, so DD sat and passed the entrance exam and then had to deal with the disappointment of not going to the school because we can't afford the fees (plus bus fares, uniform, school trips etc, etc).

An £80k salary is £53k net of tax. With boarding fees costing close to £40k when you add in all the extras that would leave £13k per annum to feed, clothe and pay rent and a mortgage so it is quite obvious why someone on £80k may be offered a large bursary. If you have more than one child then even more funding would be given.

If you are ingenious or wily enough or just have the chutzpah to keep asking till you wear them down, you can achieve it, like anything. Just heard today about a bursay from someone who most of would really not think needed it ... they don't really need it , but they reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally wanted it! But most of just simply don't have the energy or obsession or single-mindedness to make it happen.

Thank you Collager £80k sounds a lot but not when you are taxed on it especially when my husband earns most of it. We cannot afford the £30k plus annual school fee bill. We wanted my youngest son to go to his next school more than we wanted/want a holiday/car/large house etc. and we have sacrificed everything to enable it to happen. We reckon you have to earn a £100K plus to afford the whole lot comfortably. I really sympathise with Bunbaker this is a very common problem; not knowing the size of the bursary on offer until the child has sat the entrance exam, we were lucky that we have not had this problem. With regard to the non means tested scholarship and top up although my son is very clever he would probably not get a scolarship into his next school and bursaries were available to all not just scholars. We were told by his head that he could of easily get a scholarship into most other schools but this was not want we wanted. We decided it was this school or our excellent local comp.

An annual net annual salary of £53k would put you in the top 10% of earners in the country. Accordingly if bursaries were available on this basis it would follow that 90% of families would be eligible. However the reality for most families is that the salary range for eligibility for a bursary is far lower. I think the exception and not the norm was being described in the earlier post.

I was specifically talking about bursaries at school that are £30k plus. A standard independent of around £12k would not give a bursary to someone on such a high salary.

I accept that we earn way above the average and will still be expected to pay a minimum of £1000 a month and that this is way more than those on average saleries can afford. The school is offering "top ups" not 100% bursaries. Yes the system weans out those who are on an average income. There are some exceptions St Pauls Boys is worth considering if you have a bright ambitious boy and their website states that bursaries are available to all who have a place.

May I join in? I have a little experience of this. Happygardening tells the truth!

If your child is going to make a school look good for whatever reason you may well find that a school is willing to bend over backwards to take them. Think of it as a symbiotic relationship, with your child giving a school marketability in return for an education. If you don't try you don't get. We've just been offered whatever we need so that DC can attend a super posh Indy, no questions asked no forms even.

The more ridiculously expensive the school the bigger the stack of cash! Jeez you guys need to understand basic economics!!

Absolutely right St pauls Boys is exceedingly wealthy they have many assets around London, parents commited to the idea of a needs blind admission policy who raise money all the time and it is also completely oversubscribed to register is £200. The year I registered my DS I was told that there were 900 other applicants for the 75 places left, the others having gone to Colet Court. This is all money on the bank for them. Eton Winchester are the same they oversubsribed and all have assets. Secondly these three were originally founded to educate "the poor" so the ethos of giving bursaries is not new to them.You are much more likely to get a large bursary from one of the "top" schools than St Elsewhere which is struggling to fill its vacancies.

Happygardening, thanks so much for your information filled posts on this - all the useful details that aren't on the websites! Its a bit of a different thing calling up loads of bursars and trying to get details off them...

Particularly interested in the info re St Pauls. I did the bursary forms for Colet Court and to be honest was surprised that they didn't recommend 100% bursary given my income / circumstances. Also that the form suggests there is so much discretion involved and no appeal process, but I guess I'm just not used to this sort of system at all.

What I found the real worry was that the bursary letter suggested the amount offered wouldn't neccesarily go up with fee rises, especially as given that the next couple of fee increases are likely to be before my DS would have even started (assuming they go up every year)!

As it is, my DS unfortunately didn't make a place. Had he done so, I really don't know if I'd have been able to accept, as no matter how much scrimping and saving to make up the shortfall, it could all be undercut with a fee rise that left me unable to meet the rest.

Anecdote from the admissions people there - a boy offered a 10+ place last year who they were keen to accept, turned down the place as the family couldn't afford the 20% fees they'd be liable for after a bursary.

I don't know if its much better at the senior school, or if this is just as good as it gets - my DS is likely to be sitting the admissions exam for Colet Court again at the end of this year. (sorry for the long post )

In my experience prep schools are less generous. I have found lots of school promise a lot on their websites but fail to deliver. We have been lucky we have been offered a % of current fees rather than an amount. When trying to find a bursary for my older son I actually asked bursars if they had ever given a bursary of that size in the past and I also would do all of this before I even go and look at the school. After all I didn't want to waste my time, my chidrens time or the schools time if they are unable to provide the level of funding we needed. I think in England we are not got at talking openly about money but if you are looking for a bursary you have too. You have to be very business like. God I sound so boring