Am I likely to get a second bursary at the same school?

[2012resolutionlesstv]

I read the long thread on independent school bursaries here with great interest, there are a lot of you out there with great advice, I'd really welcome some more! DD1 is in Y7 with 100% bursary. I was stunned when she got this, but having read all the information here, perhaps not so stunned any more. DD1 is very bright and excels at a number of extra-curricular things as well. Plus I am a single parent with a very low income.

DD2 is currently in Y4 (state) and I had assumed that applying for another bursary to DD1's school would be a silly thing to do on the basis that they are funding me hugely already. DD2 is bright but not in the same league as DD1 and sporty, but more enthusiastic than gifted... I suspect she may not be as 'desirable' as DD1 awful as that is to type it!

To be honest I'd always thought the school would think I was having a laugh if I tried to get another one in! Is that the wrong assumption? Reading the bursaries thread has made me wonder. Are applications for siblings of a bursary child generally encouraged or discouraged, successful or unsuccessful? Really welcome your advice thank you in advance

I know someone who had 3DCs with bursaries in one school.

This is of interest to me too. Would an application for a 2nd child be favoured under a 'sibling' policy, or the reverse because ' we are already helping that family'? Have tried looking on several schools' sites but cannot see anything conclusive. Perhaps it depends on the wealth of the school and the amount of fees needed

Much presumably will depend on the demand for bursaries in a particular year. This is a matter of luck, so have a go. Either you get one and you are very lucky indeed, or you dont, when at least you tried. This is not a judgement of how one of your children compares against another.

The advantage you have is that you have met the criteria once already and they know your family. (A disadvantage obviously if you have been showing up in a Range Rover and with a deep Caribbean sun tan - but I assume that is not the case!) The disadvantage is that if there are two equally good candidates both needing full support they may decide to spread the benefit by favouring the other family. This presumably will depend on the school.

One of my daughters friends is on a full bursary, in the same school as her older brother.

I would not worry about one sibling appearing less clever than another in Year 4. DS was quite studious at that age so appeared clever, DD decidedly not. Five years on and I would not be able to predict which of the two will get better A Levels.

thank you Needmoresleep. No problems looking pasty in my old banger! Part of me feels I will just look greedy if I apply again but maybe that's just me being oversensitive. I'm still so amazed and so grateful for DD1's bursary that i wouldn't want to do anything at all to jeopardise it. I guess as you say, the school knows my circumstances but assuming nothing changes then I would have to be asking for another 100% for DD2. That feels like quite a big ask! And as I indicated in my original post, I don't want the school to think I believe I'm on some sort of gravy train!

You could ask the school how they would view it. Explain your reservations, but also that you feel you must try for DD2 in a spirit of fairness.

We will probably be in exactly the same situation at the same time as you. I'm not worried about how things look to the school. Wonderful as it is that they are so generous, they are giving you this money because it benefits them to have clever children from a variety of backgrounds at their school. All you are doing is giving them the chance to see if your other child meets their criteria. They won't think you are greedy, just trying to give both your children the best opportunities.

I'm more worried about what happens if DC2 passes the exam but doesn't get enough of a bursary for us to send them there - they will inevitably feel the comparison.

If a second child is offered a bursary at a lesser amount than a first child, doesn't this call into question the eligibility of the first award? Or could one put that down to fewer funds being available? And if a second child was awarded - say - 70% and somehow one managed to find the rest - grandparents, remortagage, whatever - wouldn't that kind of imply you could have found it for the 100% first one?

Or am I over-analysing?!

I'm with you Ladypeterwhimsey - it felt like there was nothing to lose by going for it the first time around, rather different this time, hence my trying to second guess all the angles!

In the sadly departed days of Govt. Assisted Places they worked out what you could afford and that's what you paid, whether you had one child at a fee-paying school or half a dozen

I know of one independant school which is very pro the family unit and will given priority to siblings above people who scored better than them in entrance tests (obviously they do have to do fairly well or the school will advise that they are not suited). I also know of another school who will completely disregard sibling connections and insist that each child gets in on their own merits.

If you got a 100% bursary for the first because of the way that schools usually calculate (sliding scale of income/assets) I would assume that it is very likely that you would get 100% for the second provided that your circumstances haven't changed much since then, your dd2 passes the entrance exam and also that there are sufficient funds available.

I would say go for it if you want your dd2 to have the same opportunities as dd1. Bursaries are there for people who can genuinely not afford it. Apply, they can only say no (or yes).

Our feeling is that dc1 got the bursary because they are immensely able and thus were at the top of list of results of entrance exam. I think the money is handed out by starting at the top of that list and seeing who needs it. When the money is gone, it's gone, and therefore it is possible it will have run out by the time it gets to dc2 if they don't do as well.

I doubt that would be the approach used by many schools. In part priorities many be governed by the aims laid down by the origional founder, so for example local children might take priority.

Also I would expect schools to be looking for potential, and an ability to contribute to the life of the school. A child from a non English speaking household or from a poorly performing primary, and who does well at interview may be preferred by many schools to a very coached child with poor inter personal skills who got better exam results.

I would expect money to be allocated to those who make best use of it. Bursary children we have come across are bright, but not necessarily super-star bright. Several though could be considered both a real credit to their families and to their schools.

Each school will obviously have its own priorities. Schools that are considered less academic can sometimes appear to be more generous with bursaries for very bright children, than more selective schools.

This is how this particular school told us they would allocate the funds - obviously as you say, every school is free to make up their own policies, although I have heard that more and more schools are allocating money this way. Scholarships are often nominal and the bursary money goes to able AND needy students.