Latymer Upper

[Spring2020]

Hi, Dd is in year 5 and we would like to apply for a scholarship at Latymer Upper next year. We have heard (rumour) that the school can award top performers at 11+ a scholarship (not bursary) up to 100% fee reduction. I am grateful if someone could shed a light or share your experience here please? And if it is the case will it cover 7 years or just for the first year - year 7?
Thanks in millions.

From their website :

"Academic scholarships are offered at 11+. These normally consist of a one-off payment of £1,000 at the time of entry. At the Head’s discretion, a larger financial element may be awarded. No separate application is required for a scholarship and there is no separate scholarship examination or interview."

I doubt the discretionary Head's award would be 100% fee reduction. Certain nothing like a 100% academic scholarship was mentioned at their open day.
LU have a big focus on awarding bursaries....and this is probably where they want to concentrate their funds on.

Thanks for your reply @ripple11.
Yes, I have read that info from thw school website as well but still hope that parents with children at LU can confirm if their children have managed to achieve this kind of scholarship.
X

I would ring them yourself to find out this sort of detail.

I have taught 2 children who were awarded 100% bursaries at LU. Very, very bright kids with extra curricular stuff to offer and parents without a penny.
I have never heard of anyone getting the £1000 golden hello.

Yes, my understanding is that LU is moving towards means-tested financial support, which is unreasonable... Dulwich is doing the same, as explained directly by Dr Spencer, the Head Master. But schools such as KGS and Hampton definitely still award academic scholarships.

Sorry!!! I meant to write, “which is NOT unreasonable “!!!!

I have a couple of friends with kids at LU on 100% bursaries. The school has a very large proportion of kids on bursaries, someone told me they're aiming for one quarter of the intake to receive financial assistance or thereabouts. You have to be means-tested and earn below a certain amount to be eligible.

I also know a couple of families whose children got scholarships. Those aren't means tested but as the website says are a one-off award to children who do brilliantly in the entrance exam. So scholarships aren't about financial aid, they're about glory and they're certainly not going to help you pay the fees long term. The head's discretion bit probably means the child may also be eligible for a bursary, in which case they'll receive one too.

The other thing about bursaries is that there is an annual pot which can be divided in different ways. So one year there might be 10 x 20% bursaries, the next year 2 brilliant kids (with v. poor parents) turn up and they award 2 x 100% bursaries.

Spring - you can’t “apply” for an academic scholarship as such. This will simply be awarded to the top performing pupils out of almost 1,400 who sit the 11 plus. The reason schools such as LU do this is because they know these pupils will almost certainly have offers at other top schools do it’s an attempt to lure them. I don’t know about amounts, but it’s highly unlikely to be anywhere near 100%. Usually, it’s a token amount eg 5% - 10% of fees. There are some music scholarships and these you can apply for.
You can apply for a bursary place if you meet the criteria. LU has more pupils on bursary places than any other similar schools - over 20%. Their whole ethos of the school is allocating finds where most needed.
For instance, pupils who got all 9s at GCSE we’re awarded the title of “scholar” going into sixth form, but this is not a financial award, simply an acknowledgement.
They take in around 30 new students into the sixth form and half of these this year are funded via the bursary fund.

Thanks all for your advices.
Although it is highly unlikely but still there is a little chance of 100% scholarship which is the total award of music scholarship + academic scholarship + head master award?

Knowing the school and its ethos, I think it’s very unlikely that they’d give more than 10% off fees for non-means-tested scholarships, even if your dd got both academic and music ones. I wouldn’t apply hoping that would happen, sorry.

The only children I know for whom 100% of fees are covered, are on full bursaries, or a combination of a bursary with a scholarship. They are very motivated young people - eg one wrote their own application form as the parents were not interested. The ethos and motto of the school is “changing lives.” The head grew up locally as is a huge proponent of the “Horizon Fund” which states that, once in the school, no pupil will be denied trips or other opportunities on the basis of finances. So pupils are going all over the world free on various trips, etc. This is how they will distribute funds. They don’t need to give money to those who can pay.

I tend do agree. DS is being interviewed at LU on Saturday and the more I learn about its commitment to diversity, inclusiveness and social mobility, the more I hope that DS is lucky enough to the accepted. Should this happen we will be working very hard to pay his school fees, as we know that there are many bright DCs out there whose families need any financial support they can possibly get via bursaries (and that is where the funds should go, in our family’s opinion). I am very sorry if this message is too assertive.

I know that in the past Hampton have certainly awarded 100% scholarships. One of my older ds's contemporaries had academic plus music plus choral giving total of 100%. They came with significant obligations however, meaning that he had to give up the sport he had been doing outside of school.

Hampton is a great school and I have had sons at both. I know of a couple of other parents in the same situation who both rate Hampton more highly on the academic side.

I only ever heard of significant bursaries at LU.

Hi Alwaysfrank! Good to hear from you! Will send you a PM! Hope is OK... Thank you!!!

OP. A scholarship would give you a one-off payment of £1k

A music scholarship I think you get something like £1k off fees a year and free music tuition (remembering a convo with a mum with child on a music scholarship)

So if you want a heavily subsidised education when you can technically afford the fees then LU is not the school to be targeting, go for one of the others mentioned here. If you are eligible for a bursary then absolutely go for it!

I don't understand why OP is so obsessed with the term "100% scholarship" rather than "100% bursary". If you can pass the mean test, then by all means apply for the bursary. If not, that means your family should be able to squeeze out the fees, and you should be paying your fair share of school fees, and give the fund to families who need them more.

I absolutely agree with the decision to make scholarship awards token amounts. Two of DS1's friends at his prep received John Colet scholarships which in the past would have meant free school places but now receive a token amount of what was £50 IIRC. Both of these boys came from incredibly wealthy families and it would be ridiculous to use school income to fund their school fees.

Well, we may be eligible to a bursary now if we apply but may be not in the near future if there is a change in our jobs. The benefit of scholarship is that it is not mean tested annually. What happens if we earn more in the near future? Is the school going to take the bursary award away from us and ask us to contribute % based on the earning?
In the school website it says one music scholarship can be awarded up to 40% of fee reduction so if a child can also get the Head's discretion of 60% then 100% scholarship is achievable right?
Anyway, this is our hope and it depends on our child performance out of the cohort next year.
Thanks all for your time.

If there's a significant change in your earnings you'll be asked to pay more fees. Just as if you earn more money you have to pay more tax. That's fair, don't you think?

DS has a John Colet plus a small bursary plus a music exhibition (free tuition on one instrument). SPS’s bursary endowment is extremely generous and the boys are continually raising money to increase it.

We have to renew our financial info for the bursary each year. It has gone down and up over the years.

well, if your incoming is increasing in the future, shouldn't you be paying the school fees like everyone else? Why do you think you can continue enjoying the bursary scheme with a higher income?

I give up... I am really trying to control myself here... 🤣🤣🤣

Kingscote - SPS are spending their money wisely and fairly. Is it true that the scholarship badge that JC scholars have to wear costs more then the scholarship?