Scholarships

[notmyfinest]

I'm currently filling out the financial assistance forms. One of the questions asks about capital assets and in particular cash at bank. We are actually in a significant amount of debt - should we record that there or just put £0? Many thanks for any help.

You just need to give a truthful picture - when I filled out these forms there was a space on it for my assets (for me it was only my house, they wanted to know its current value and what mortgage was left on it) On another part of the form they wanted to know my 'liabilities' (i.e. my debt) so credit card debt, loan repayments etc - do put all that down (if you debt) as it's really important when they come to add up what you have (or don't have) Most important thing is to be totally transparent

Thanks, does anyone know what the attitude to debt generally is though? We have loads as my husband runs his own business and the year before last was very difficult trading conditions and my son was having chemo which affected my ability to work - so we were basically living on credit cards. Things are starting to look up now so I think he will be able to draw a significant salary this year and I have a decent income (£65k) but he has a lot of directors loan to repay and we are also struggling to repay the credit card debt.

We are trying to remortgage which will hopefully improve our monthly situation. If we had a blank canvas we would be able to afford the fees but a bad couple of years has made it look unlikely.

My son (who is 11) is very bright and sporty (always picked for first team rugby and football) and quite talented at tennis so I think he stands a chance at the scholarship element but I think we would need some form of bursary at least for a few years to make it financially viable for us.

The thing is, I don't want to reveal the full extent of our debt, get nowhere on a bursary app and then get declined a place altogether because we are a bad credit risk!

They won't decline a place if you don't qualify for a bursary (although for some schools like City, bursary applicants are tested separately and won't subsequently be offered a general place if ineligible). You'll need to check. How would you pay the fees if he didn't get a bursary though?

If your DH has his own business then a loan from the company to himself isn’t such a priority to repay. Presumably he could’ve taken an increased salary or dividends rather than a loan.
However it sounds as though things have been pretty tough, I hope your DS is now recovered.

There were no profits so he couldn't take a dividend last year. I'm not really sure why he didn't take it as salary. He has an investor so it might be that he wouldn't let him draw a salary until trading improved.

He's due to make profit this year and that has to go to repaying the directors loan as 1) the company will have more tax to pay with it outstanding and 2) it puts us in a perilous position if the Co was to go bust (as the liquidator would come after him to repay).

He is earning decent money now (salary) but we need a couple of years to get straight to repay all of the debt. If no financial assistance was forthcoming I think we could probably still do it but it makes paying off the debt a longer process. The best thing would be if we were able to remortgage as it would all be much more manageable then. It is a lot of debt though - think a years salary.

It is my younger son who had chemo. He was only 2 but we have been very lucky and he got better.

I am assuming you have to provide bank statements and the like so they will be able to see all the credit card payments anyway. Hope you get the bursary you need, it sounds like you guys have had a few very tough years

Good to hear your DS has recovered, just be honest on the application and good luck

Thank you for all the kind thoughts on this thread. I thought I was going to get slated for daring to apply with debt.

Explain the context of your situation. Check if they offer full bursaries, sometimes the scholarships are just a very small token gesture. He sounds exactly the sort of child they would like to offer a bursary.

In the situation described you need to be sure that they offer 100% bursaries. Be honest and truthful