Boarding - scholarship percentage

[Frogusha]

Could anyone tell me an approximate percentage music scholarship it’s possible to get in a boarding school? Is it similar to day schools, where it seems to be at best 10% or free music lessons? Are there schools anywhere in the country that offer 40-50% scholarship? We would not qualify for a bursary and probably not academic scholarship.

I very much doubt it.

I don't think there is a typical approach but scholarships are certainly less valuable than they used to be. At my old (boarding) school there is no help with fees associated with scholarships. I attended a virtual open day for a day school last weekend where the scholarship covers one music lesson per week during the school year.

You might do better with schools that put emphasis on music if your child is talented. Eg Wells Cathedral School has scholarships worth up to 50% of day fees.

Some offer 20%. I know of a girls' day school in North London which offers 50% in Year 7.

Thanks for the pointers!! @Soma, do you mind sharing the name of the school, either here or in PM?

Sad really, re: one music lesson per week, I doubt they’d get many talented musicians fighting over that.

at DS's school it's 10% off fees, plus free music lessons on two instruments, and anyone in the choir gets free singing lessons for a year as well I think. Mind you, the department certainly claims its pound of flesh.

How do you know you won't qualify for a bursary? Have you enquired? you may be surprised - especially if they like your dc.

Christ’s Hospital School awards up to 20% scholarship for music.

@frogusha I sent you a PM.

Will send pm

I know of a couple of girls day schools that offer 50% off. Be aware though that scholarships at boarding schools are usually only a discount on the day fee, not the boarding element. Given there are so few full boarding schools these days it is something to consider.

@Zodlebud, that's interesting, I didn't realise that. Do you mind sharing which schools, either here or in PM? This thread has been super useful, thank for sharing this valuable information! We've never considered boarding as it's a) so expensive, b) DD is not keen, but things may change in a couple of years time as she grows up. Weekly boarding with a w/e at home seems like not a bad idea.

All percentages are “up to” values and I imagine you would need to be exceptional to get that much.

St Albans High School (Day) - 50%

Habs Girls (Day) - 50%

Eltham College (Day) - 50%

Roedean (Day & Boarding) - 40% if combined with great academics

Royal Masonic (Day & Boarding) - 25% officially but I know someone there on 40%

Pipers Corner (Day) - 10% standard, up to 50% for exceptional candidates

I used to audit bursary applications and the great majority awarded went to those children who had been offered either an academic or music scholarship too, with the bursary being used to top up on a means tested basis.

If your child is an extremely talented musician then it’s worth asking the bursars at the schools you are interested in that are only offering, say, 10% what their criteria is for bursary eligibility. In some cases it can be earning less than £100k.

As the parent of a boarder I can honestly say DON’T DO IT unless your daughter wants to do it. If she’s not keen then it can be a recipe for disaster, however good a school or financial incentive being offered to be there. I know for some parents that boarding is a necessity, but it can be an extremely miserable experience being sent away when you don’t want to go.

I would add that my daughter begged us to weekly board and absolutely loves it. For us it works exceptionally well and she is thriving.

Thank you very much @Zodlebud! That's super useful. Yes, hopefully she'll be an exceptional standard by then, based on her current rate a not ambitious prediction (not doing any more that she's doing now, which is not that much) would be around grade 7 piano, grade 5-6 theory, grade 5 cello, potentially one more instrument (she's currently grade 1 on it).

Re: her not wanting to do it, we haven't really discussed previously, but in her current school they told them about boarding schools and she doesn't like the idea. However, she loves stories about boading schools, confident with going away with relatives or friends - has been on holiday a few times without family, and thinks the school away trips are the best thing ever. As she still has a couple of years to go, I think by the time she's 10/11 she should really want to do it, but of course if she doesn't request it we won't sit the exams even.

@Frogusha, from a financial point of view, and unless your DD is desperate to board, you would be better off aiming at day schools than boarding schools - if you don't qualify for a bursary a 10-25% scholarship will make a far more affordable dent in day fees than boarding (I speak from personal experience there!).

However (and I'm not trying to minimise your DD's musical achievements in any way) I think it's fair to say that piano is probably the least useful instrument to have as first study for school music scholarships - lots of children play it, it's harder to stand out as exceptional (the really exceptional players at that age will already be post-Grade 8 level), and senior schools tend to want musicians to fill their orchestras and ensembles rather than solitary instruments. Grade 7 won't be an unusual level for scholarship applicants to have achieved, and most, if not all, will have Grade 5 theory as well because of ABRSM requirements for higher instrumental grades. Cello might be a better prospect, though Grade 5 would be at the lower end of the standard for scholarship applicants. Does she sing? That can be a useful additional musical skill to offer when applying for music scholarships.

I really don't think it's necessary to be Grade 7 at age 10 or 11 to get a music scholarship. What schools seem to be looking for is potential, and what your child can add to the music department. Grade 7 standard for 6th form entry would definitely be enough at larger schools with enough money to award scholarships to students that fit what they're looking for.

I know of twins who played the piano to a good standard in Year 6 and were both awarded substantial music scholarships at all the schools they applied to, including a well known co-ed North London school.

Most large schools have lots of different music groups, not just one orchestra, so there is room for many instruments, including piano.

Thank you @TheatreTaxi. Yes, I thought about piano being the least useful but there we go (I play so she plays). Perhaps she can stretch to Y8, time will show. With boarding schools I'm hoping the level will be slightly lower as less people are keen on boarding by comparisson to day school and the competition overall is smaller. She sings as well but not a soloist really, she's happy in a choir though. I'm hoping for a combination of piano & cello winning it, would not dream it to wing it on piano or cello alone.

In terms of costs, one of the posters above recommended a boarding school which is £27k a year for weekly boarding, with a 50% scholarship it'd be considerably cheaper than a day school near us with a 10% scolarship...

@Frogusha you would only get 50% off the day fee, not the boarding fee. So say the school is £16k a year as a day student and £24k a year as a weekly boarder. You would get 50% off the £16k only. So it would cost you the reduced day fee of £8k plus the additional £8k in boarding fees.

You don’t get 50% off the £24k fees.

So it costs the same to weekly board on a music scholarship as it does to attend the school as a day pupil without the scholarship.

Based on conversations I had with boarding schools about music scholarships, I don't think the standard is lower - many parents choose boarding for musical children because it makes the extra curricular and practice much easier, and because many schools have specialism in this area. No point in sending a very musical child to a school that can't provide the right musical opportunities and education.

It was very clear that they are mainly interested in orchestral instruments - lots of hopeful enquiries about oboe playing (hopes swiftly dashed by DD).

In terms of grades, none of them cared less if you had paper certificates or had never sat a single exam, but the suggestion was that G5/6 standard on first plus G3 on second for 11+ would be a minimum, and at 13+ they had a lot of choristers apply with multiple instruments and G8 not at all unusual in at least one instrument plus voice.

We were asked to come back annually from Y6 for one 13+ school so that the music director could follow progress, so you may find some schools ask that.

Best thing is contact the schools, ask what they want and talk to the music departments.

In terms of offer, it was almost always 10% and/or free instrumental tuition. Bigger awards were 'at discretion' and few and far between.

Investigate the MDS scheme which does cover boarding.

Cheetams in Manchester specialises in music and I believe they do full scholarships.

I agree that schools look for potential as well as achievement, so the length of time a child has been learning an instrument and the instrument itself are considerations. My younger child plays an "rare" instrument and will be at Grade 4 standard within 2 years of starting lessons. They are at roughly the same standard on piano at the moment but have taken more than twice as long to get there, so they are more much likely to be a competitive music scholarship candidate on their orchestral instrument than on piano.

The OP is asking about achieving a larger-than-average music scholarship on popular instruments. Scholarship standards are likely to be higher on those instruments due to the numbers of candidates applying. The children I know who have achieved very generous (50%+) music scholarships to sought-after day and boarding schools have either been Grade 8+ and studying at JDs, or ex-cathedral choristers, so in my experience that's the standard necessary to be competitive.

In terms of costs, one of the posters above recommended a boarding school which is £27k a year for weekly boarding, with a 50% scholarship it'd be considerably cheaper than a day school near us with a 10% scholarship...

Yes, but those sums only work if you get the 50% scholarship, and that is extremely difficult to achieve if a school's standard offering is 10%. I've recently played exactly those odds with one of my children, and it didn't work out. The scholarship offered by the boarding school was nowhere near large enough to make the fees affordable. The smaller % scholarship offer from the day school was.

Someone mentioned the MDS. The MDS scheme has four music schools: Chetham's, Purcell, Yehudi Menuhin and Wells. They give means-tested bursaries (funded by the Government) of up to 100% of boarding fees.

The numbers of funded pupils at each school are restricted so obviously competition is fierce.

There's a similar scheme in Scotland covering St Mary's in Edinburgh.

Thank you everyone, I hugely appreciate your input.

Re: specialist music schools, I think I'll definitely explore Wells but ideally I'd like an academic school which does music to a good standard but not a specialist school, that does music 80% of time. I'm not sure DD would want to be a musician, so I'd like her to continue with her music but get a well-rounded education to decide what she wants to do. I feel in a specialist school she'd be steered very firmly into becoming a musician and also in a boarding school there's more of a likelihood of an international body of students from countries where it's customary to practise 10 hours a day, so she'd never compare to that and would feel discouraged...

So any other great academic school that have a great music department?

I can't seem to PM , not sure if it's because I'm on the app!

I went to a specialist music school, I'm now a professional musician, and my child is on a full scholarship/bursary and weekly boarding (not specialist).

There is definitely room for negotiation which I discovered on our journey to get there. I did lots of research as to which schools had higher pots of money for scholarships and bursaries....

Managed to send PM