13+ Scholarship success rates

[LucillesLooseWheel]

I know it probably varies from school to school, but does anyone have a vibe on success rates for academic scholarship applications to private secondary schools at 13+?

If the prep school have put you in for it, does that mean it's a strong likelihood, or just that it's a feint possibility?

Do you want boarding or day schools and what part of uk? In SW London scholarships are worth 5-10% of fees in most cases.

Thanks @redrobin75 it's in the provinces for a very-good-but-not-household-name type of school.

Academic scholarship would be about 5-10% off fees.

Looks like a lot of stress and not sure whether to bother. Prep school are saying to go for it, but are tight-lipped about odds of success...

Scholarship offers are dependent on so many "behind closed doors" decisions it's not worth thinking about unless it's 50% etc and a clearly laid out process and benefits.

@LucillesLooseWheel having had a DS and a DD. both achieve academic scholarships coming from a prep school my advice would be a frank discussion with your head as he/she should have a general understanding of the particular school’s scholarship exam requirements and your child should have been working towards that scholarship in years 7&8. The Head will know if your child is in the right ballpark for your chosen school. However, sometimes it can just be a case of taking a punt! If you are chasing a scholarship for the reduction in fees then as you know, it only tends to be 5 or 10% but it does normally open the door to the bursary pot. If you can afford the fees without a scholarship or bursary then your child can of course still attempt the scholarship but it can be a lot of stress for just kudos. Both my DC scholarship exams for their chosen schools necessitated nearly a week away from home (boarding school).

Thanks @motherstongue that's exactly what I'm wondering. We don't need the fee reduction (would be nice, obvs) so he'd mostly be doing it for kudos and to get some ring-fenced scholarship stuff at the next school.

However, his current school don't have a scholarship set as such (it's a smallish prep school and most kids either go to the connected senior school or move to state). I asked the Head whether this would be a problem and he waffled and fudged a bit and sort-of-said that the target school would 'probably' take this into account and basically just look at DS's 'potential' rather than expecting him to compare with kids who've done specialist common entrance scholarship prep.

DS is fairly able (high CAT scores) and would definitely like the kudos! But I don't want to put him up for it if he's going to fall flat on his face.

Reading other threads on here, it looks like awarding scholarships is a bit of a dark art so I'm trying to get some hard data.

@LucillesLooseWheel No dark arts in my experience.

Have you discussed any of this with his destination school? If not, I would. In fact, we fostered a great relationship with the admissions head at both senior schools and found them to be brilliant. They should be able to tell you if he would need to do the CAS or if he would sit something similar to the papers state school children would be expected to sit. They should also be able to give you past papers if your Prep hasn’t already been doing this.

Re your DS wanting to do it, then maybe let him. We never got results as such just a call/letter with the offer so, other than him perhaps knowing on the day how he felt things went, he probably wouldn’t know for sure how he did whether he achieves a scholarship or not. Just have him primed that it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t get it and to look on it as experience and/or a bit of fun (at least that’s what my DS thought it was lol).

If the Head is suggesting it, it means there is a chance for your DS. My DS did 13+ scholarship but they did have a scholarship set (Year 8 only) and over half of the boys in the set did get a scholarship. The scholarship was based on the grades attained in the compulsory and optional subjects, there was a certain number of scholarships offered so of course, it is also down to the performance of others who applied to sit the exams. There are usually past papers available which you can usually get from the destination school or from your prep. All the best to your DS!

@LucillesLooseWheel
Scholarships at my DDs boarding school were £0. Rightly the money went on bursaries. Why the rich get money off is beyond me.

At DD2s prep, they had a scholarship set but they didn’t all get them. Having said that, there’s only so many available at Wycombe Abbey and CLC! Many parents preferred a certain academic school and didn’t chase scholarships they didn’t need. So it ended up with a few chasing scholarships everywhere! Most didn’t. Some got 3.

You need to look at your prep school scholarship results. Do they know the time of day? Do they get one or two or lots? Prep Schools like the kudos but sometimes it’s not worth the effort. Dc can still do very well without them and it’s less pressure at senior school.

Thanks All.

Our prep doesn't publish how many scholarships they apply for and how many they get to external schools (not many I suspect) so the info here is really useful.