Private school scholarship discounts

[wintertime2016]

It's my first time posting on here after following several threads so here goes:
My Dc won a scholarship to senior school which clearly stated on offer letter X % of FULL BOARDING fee, they however flexi board which is considerably cheaper. I however noticed that the first invoice only deducted the X % from the FLEXI fee price meaning less discount for us.
My question is has anyone had this experience before, are discounted awards applied as if your child would be paying the dearer full fee or as a % of the day rate/flexi rate. I don't want to look ungrateful or greedy by querying this already generous discount meaning the offer letter was a typo or had assumed my DC would full board?
Any advice or experience of this situation would be appreciated!
Ps invoice is already paid but thinking of future term costs etc

Ok, so to clarify they offered a percentage off full board fee (which comes out at a specific monetary value) but you expected that you'd be offered the same amount in monetary value rather than percentage off flexi fees? If so, I'm afraid I'm not surprised as although it's less discount for you, it's lower cost for you overall also surely?

They are correct. The percentage will be the same whether you are a full or flexi boarder.

I'm surprised they weren't clearer but it is correct.

Yes. Thsts how it works for dd. She gets the same percentage discount when she boards (which she only does occasionally)

I'm not sure what your saying OP it's been a very busy few days at work so maybe I'm just not feeling on the ball tonight.
Some schools I've heard do offer a bigger bursary for full boarders, I guess to try and make it more attractive.

I think they are usually % discounts aren't they?

If it gave a % then that is applied to the fees. If they had stated £x you would receive a deduction of that amount. I assume you had translated the % of full boarding cost into £ and assumed you'd receive that regardless. The % won't apply to extras or additional costs like exam fees.

Hi All
Thank you so much for your responses so far
I might have to make self clearer in case I have confused anyone!

Using hyperthetical figures, basically FULL boarding fee is 12K, flexi 8k therefore let's say 20% of 12k is 2400 and 20% of 8K is 1600. The offer letter saying 20% of 12k made us think we would get 2400 deducted from the 8k therefore only paying 5600 as opposed to the 1600 which is currently discounted making us liable for 6400 so technically are we being shortchanged 800 termly??
Probably pocket change for some families but not us I am afraid?
Thanks

No, you'll get 20% off whatever fees you pay. It's not a cash amount, it's a percentage. That's how they work.

Just to add we had been clear from the beginning that the place applied for was for flexi not full

Thanks Dolly
Saves me an embarrassing email though a bit miffed the offer letter was not clearer in the beginning!

I think it would be 20%!pro rota as well.

IT may be worth quoting the wording on the letter so we can see why you interpreted as a lump sum discount, rather than percentage.

This article, for example, discusses %

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/secondaryeducation/8838238/10-tips-for-private-school-busaries.html

Hi 228
Just gone through all the paperwork and found offer letter which reads
"The value of the scholarship is worth X % of the cost of the termly FULL boarding fees"

Did I get my English wrong?

No mention of pro rata at all

I think you'll find the % is off full boarding or day so flexi boarding would be charged as an additional option. Is it Cheltenham college pm me if you like

You are interpreting it wrongly.

Some scholarships & bursaries are off the fees only. They are stating that theirs civets boarding fees too.

Ah, I see where you are coming from. It does imply that the value is £2400 (using above figures), and not £1600.

In your letter is the word FULL written in capitals?
It doesnt seem rather unhelpful or inefficient/administrative error that the school tell you how much you would get off full boarding fees knowing your DC will flexi board. Often scholarships unlike bursaries are fixed amounts.
Just curious really but it is an odd time of year to receive your first invoice for school fees?

discounts are always % off surely?

and actually i wouldn't have been surprised if they offered a lower % off flexi board vs full board.

DH's niece actually receiving a lower percentage discount on her flexi-board than was offered for the full board in her scholarship. This was 10+ years ago though.

I will try and answer all your helpful comments and I think Eliza might have hit the nail on the head.
The letter is probably saying the award would include the full boarding fee if that was our preferred option?
Happy as I said in my first post the invoice is paid but I wanted to query this before the next invoice for next term in case it was an admin error.
I don't know about set amounts but the scholarship awards are anything from 5-50% no mention of set amounts!

Also if scholarships were fixed amounts, if fees increased over a five year period and your award was say £2000 off it means your 2000 stays while the fees kept rising, doesn't seem fair surely!

You could read that sentence to mean they only give discounts to full boarders! Flexi and day do not count! I don't think it says what they mean. Is the scholarship application information accurately worded?

I think it is fair that 20% is applied universally to the full boarding fees, flexi boarding or day. If it was a £2400 discount for for flexi and day, this would be a far greater percentage and not be fair to the boarding parents. That would not be in keeping with the spirit of the scholarship as it would inflate it for those children over the 20% for full boarders. As you are paying less anyway, I would be happy with the bill.