Income levels for bursaries/assisted places

[DebbieFiderer]

I'm vaguely looking in to the possibility of DD going to an independent school for secondary as I think it would suit her (the right one would anyway!), but it wouldn't really be a possibility without significant assistance with fees. I've looked at a few local schools and they say they offer bursaries of up to 100%, obviously means tested; so far so good.

I had assumed that on our income level we would be good candidates for a bursary, however having looked at a couple of other schools a little further away (also more sought-after/prestigious, if that makes a difference), they are a little more specific about income levels for bursaries; one says that families with income above national average would be unlikely to get assistance, the other specifies £26,000 as a cut off for 100% bursary, so now I am wondering if that would be similar at other schools, in which case there is little chance we would get enough to make it a possibility :(

Does anyone know if this would be the case, or do schools vary quite significantly on this? We are in Surrey if that makes a difference.

Gruach He is in senior school ,it is an academic selective school ,over subscribe and he passed the entrance exam, I am a single mum with low income so he is qualified.
Superexcited thank you very much ,I dont know much about these things It confused me between scholaship and bursary .

I wouldn't worry then!

You've both won something valuable. Enjoy it!

how much equity in a family home do bursars tend to consider? I only own my own (only) home but have £150K equity which has been built up in last 10 years. Would I be expected to remortgage to pay for fees? My income would qualify me for bursary. (Sorry to hijack - somewhat related).

cookie from what I remember dds school would look at the practicality individually, i.e if you sold or remortgaged could you pay school fees and live in a reasonable home. What you can't do is have a bursary and at the end of their school years have a tangible and valuable asset that many have sacrificed to pay fees. Basically you can't choose to spend large amounts of disposable income/ assets on other priorities and get the school fees paid too. Best to speak to local bursars though about your actual specific situation and their policies though as only way you'll get the correct answer for you

The mortgage and equity situation seems to vary enormously from school to school so you really have to check the individual school bursary policy or speak to the bursar. If you have a very small mortgage in relation to your income and gave a huge amount of equity then you will probably be expected to release some equity to pay fees by most schools. However, if you live in a modest home with a significant mortgage in comparison to your income then most schools will understand that remortgaging is not feasible even if you have a lot of equity.
Most schools are not stupid and they do understand that not everyone can remortgage even if they have significant equity in their home. Most schools would expect you to dispose of a 2nd property or release funds from it because 2nd properties are viewed very differently from your main home.

Thank you lurked and super. Much appreciated. Seems like the bursar is the one who can give a definitive on this.

I have met a few families with a child or children getting significant bursaries for their schooling. One family has two working parents in professional jobs, the father full time and the mother part time. Their joint income is £100,000pa. They have a mortgage. One child is on a 90% bursary and another who attends a different school has a 70% bursary. Apparently the bursar took into account the number of children in the family and the usual accounts. Family number 2 are mortgage free, 1 working parent with 1 child on 100% bursary. The school have hinted that if their other children pass the academic hoops that they would be suitable for further bursary assistance for them. Family number 3 have 2 parents in employment. Joint family income is £70,000pa. They have a mortgage and 1 child on 100% bursary and 2 others on 50% bursary. Family number 4 have no mortgage, 1 parent working and 1 child with 100% bursary. Each family said that the bursar reassured them that the bursary was theirs for the entire time that the child was in the school unless there was an enormous change in thir economic situation ( or the child didn't progress as anticipated!).

Magnificently charming children?

Ha! I don't know about that, 1 is quite delightful and obviously (just from everyday conversation) extremely clever, another is also extremely clever. Quite a few of the others were tutored for a very long time. The majority of them are not in the top tier independent schools. By the sounds of it the ones in the second/third tier independents had to work very hard to get there and the ridiculously clever one made it into the top tier independent with minimal prep ( and magnificent charm and a bag full of luck probably!)

Probably worth noting there's also a big difference in the bursary offered depending on the fees, especially with the different cost between day and boarding

Good point about boarding bursaries being different lurked. We only considered day schools and the cut off income point for any level of bursary was between £42k and £55k (depending on the school). The fees at those schools are between £11k and £12k. Obviously a boarding school with fees of £30k would have very different income thresholds for bursary eligibility.

Similar for us superexcited that's why I thought I should balance it out, didn't want someone on £50k thinking they'd be above bursary at a boarding school, or wondering why they've heard of people on very large incomes getting them.
Also even at day schools if you're paying full fees for the older child that's taken into account when deciding entitlement for a younger sibling, or at least that's the case at the ones we looked at.

That's why I mentioned boarding above. The possibilities are on an entirely different scale.

Just out of curiosity, anyone from overseas on a bursary?

No, but I know dds day school has overseas pupils living with guardians so I'd assume they were also allowed to apply for ( or could infact have) bursaries same as anyone. And I'm pretty sure the bursary applications we did had the standard 'have you/ the child been resident out of the UK' and 'if so give details' that applications for many other things do so I suspect there's unlikely to be a blanket ban, especially for boarding.

I haven't ever heard of an overseas student being in receipt of a bursary at a British independent school (they could exist but I am not aware of them). It would be quite difficult for the school to establish parental income properly if the family live overseas and they obviously wouldn't be able to do a home visit.
Overseas students do attend British independent schools and sometimes live with British families whilst they do so but I can't imagine that this in itself could give rise to a successful bursary application.
It wouldn't really sit well if schools are allocating funds to overseas students when there isn't even enough to go around British families who don't have enough income to pay fees.
Some countries do have specific funds available to send some students to British independent schools (in particular the boarding schools) but those funds come from their own country and not from the school.
It would be interesting to have some clarification on the issue though. I couldn't find anything on the Internet.

I think it would be highly unusual to give a bursary to an o/s student. The exception might be if they met other criteria such as forces or parents being officials in a religion to which the school had an affiliation. Bursaries are designed to give opportunities to pupils who might not otherwise be able to access them due to financial or social constraints. Often they top up scholarships, so become selective, and funds are finite so it might be decisions as to whether to award one 50% or two 25%. Scholarships might be specifically designated for o/s candidates but usually based on academic and perhaps social criteria ie. They bring some trait of particular benefit to the school community and probably more common at 6th form.

Probably should have clarified I was thinking more of a British child being classed as overseas due to a uk employed parent being posted elsewhere would probably be equally entitled, rather than random non nationals or parents not employed by the uk

Yes, I was thinking along the lines of a British DC with parents overseas and not a non-UK citizen from overseas.
Although the latter obviously can apply for scholarships etc.

I spend 1/3rd of my income towards fees ( income around 30k ) , but in order to make it affordable I sold my property & moved out of London bought something cheaper but there's just me & my ds so no one else to consider in order to lower my outgoings. Just been reassessed and have received same bursary just with the % rise so gone up about £300 pa.

Swimmingwithsharks
the family with income 100k pa with morgate get 100% bursary? Is it true? As you mention about one family you talked to.They are not looking at the asset they have for the equity foR the property.?
mine ,I am renting and with low income but get 90% bursary ,I dont really know why its very different .

Teddingtonmum1
your income similar to me but why you pay 1/3 of the fee,for me its quite alot for that income if only one person work and pay that on top? Can you manage for that? even I pay 10% on top ,I find it quite hard for that and something else like extra curriculum ,after school ect.
why each schools have quite vary for the slide scale to award the %

any other example to share

Babymind, as far as I know from what they have told me. They have more than one child which the school takes into account. I know the mother was just returning to work after extended maternity leave. I don't know how big their mortgage is!

If you look on the Chethams Music School website under fees (can't link it in) they detail the amount payable for boarding in relation to income. Interestingly it's almost identical to what we are paying for our DC at a different full boarding school.

I've just looked at the Chethams bursary scale - surely a family earning £70,000 pa would find it much easier to fund bursary reduced fees for one child of £6,254 (day) and £8,487 (boarding) than a family earning only £40,000 pa to fund £2,412 and £3,189? What is the logic here;to allow for 2 or 3 dc?
A 'Freudian slip' in your earlier post Knowledgable !