CAT4 – SAS 138 – Which top independent schools would offer high scholarship %?

[hayfin]

An ordinary family in SE London, never thought of an independent route for our boy (year 5) due to financial constraints, i.e. always think of Grammar Schools. However, a recent school-arranged CAT4 test has opened new doors for us, after his SAS score at 138 (i.e. 99 percentile across all 4 batteries). In addition to his music (will soon attempt for ABRSM grade VIII) and sports achievements, there is a slim chance for us to (try) explore the independent route.

Appreciate any insight/ experience sharing re:

1. if any top independent day school would offer ~50% scholarship, which is rare or even unheard of.
2. Which independent school(s) would take CAT4 result as part of their admission process?

We understand that the top top ones (SP, Tonbridge, Westminster) never offer anything above 10-15%, and a few “second tier” ones (i.e. Trinity, Whitgift etc) are also moving away from high scholarship %. Unfortunately we cannot relocate, so we pretty much focus on South/ South East London and Kent.

Thanks for all comments in advance.
Happy Easter

Your ds will have to take the 11+ exam. I don't think they look at the CAT scores. However, if he scored well in CATs he should do well in the 11+ exams. But he should start prepping for it asap.

You may be eligible for a bursary depending on your income. Schools have tended to replace the big scholarships with bursaries these days.

Have a look at Christ's Hospital.

Private schools only assess intake based on entrance exam/11+ results, they won't take CAT into consideration. Scholarship applicants will then usually have to sit additional tests/tasks.
Each school will be different though so you need to approach the ones you are interested and speak to admissions + the bursar. In however in general the process will be along the lines of:
register your child (usually involves a small payment) and let the school.know you wish to apply for a scholarship, then they sit the entrance + scholarship exams. You will then find out firstly whether they have been awarded a place and secondly whether they have been awarded a scholarship. Once you accept a place you then usually have to pay another fee and that fee secures the place.

If you live within a reasonable commuting distance of a state grammar school, I'd stick with your current plan. Far more affordable and it sounds as if your son would be in with an excellent chance of a place.

Our son got an academic scholarship to an independent school, which gave us a useful discount on the fees, but we still had to pay the balance. Our income was not high but far above bursary levels. Every single year the fees went up by far above inflation. If Labour win the election they are saying they will impose VAT on school fees. That will put a great strain on bursary and scholarship funds. These are uncertain times. If you are not wealthy, stick with the grammar schools. Your son will do just as well there academically as he would at an independent school.

Bursaries are largely where the money is. Have a look at the specific schools of interest to see what they say about bursaries and map that against your family income and assets.

@hayfin also as a PP has said, the threat of VAT could change the landscape of bursaries + scholarships so I would personally be very wary of needing either in order to afford to send my DC there in case either are withdrawn or reduced.

@hayfin also it isn't just the fees. You have to account for: transport, lunches, uniform (1k + for some schools), trips etc on top of fees. Yes you have to do this for all schools but our termly extras (transport, hire of device) come to approx £700 on top of fees.
Thankfully lunchs are included but the other local private school these are approx £500 per term.

Get hold of the latest league tables for secondary schools nationally. They rank state and independent against each other. Some of the top performing schools in the country are state. I would as a priority investigate the top state schools for boys in London. Make that plan A.

Plan B, which independent schools are accessible from your home. Be realistic, a 1hr commute each way for an 11 yr old is going to be a bit brutal on a daily basis, will make any extra curricula stuff even trickier.
Then research their entry processes. Across the board there are only so many entrance exams he can and will be willing to sit. And that's a lot of disappointment to handle too.

Last but not least, he's super bright. He'll do well with the right support from you both.

Just looked at my old school.
When I was there in the 80s the main academic scholarships were 33%, and 6th form ones 50%. Now they are 5%.

cat4 are really useless tests to be honest

None of the schools we looked at used CAT4 (DD's scores are similar to your DS's). However, the tests they do use (typically other verbal and non-verbal reasoning scales - a bit of internet sleuthing will show what individual schools employ) measure the same sort of underlying cognitive skills. Your DS will likely do very well on them - or at least, that was our experience, and DD was offered academic scholarships at both schools we applied to for 11+ (NB we're not in London!).

A poster above suggests that CAT4 is useless, and of course, not test is ever going to be a perfect predictor of academic outcomes, but CAT scores at our Prep were a pretty strong indicator of outcomes in entrance tests to senior schools. If your DS is scoring 138 untutored, he is very bright and ought to have his pick of schools.

Academic scholarships at DD's school are not massive but if you get one, you can then apply for a bursary. I agree that schools may start cutting back on bursaries if VAT is imposed on school fees, but I think it's really unlikely that any school would cull existing bursaries. Much more likely that they will keep supporting existing bursary-funded pupils, but reduce the offer to new applicants.

OP's son is currently in year 5. Most bursaries and scholarships are offered from year 7, aren't they? He won't start senior school till September 2025. We must have had an election by then. It's not impossible that Labour will make some high profile changes as soon as they get in, if they get a majority, purely for show. (I'm very sceptical about the benefit of putting VAT on school fees, given how much extra cost it's likely to result in for state schools having to take kids whose families decide not to go private after all.)

For big bursaries/scholarships you'll need to target boarding schools not day schools - and in particular the old name Public Schools who have healthy endowment funds.

So I would aim at the grammar for Y7 and then either stick with that or move to boarding for Y9.

You've got very little chance of anything more than 20% from a scholarship.
DC is gifted, both academically and in music, and was offered the highest available scholarship at the two schools we applied to, which were advertised as 40% and 25% of fees, but in practice what was offered was little more than half what was advertised. i.e. the (specific, named) scholarship that was advertised as 40% was actually offered at 20%,, and the 25% was offered as a fixed amount of current fees, meaning the value would dwindle to something like 15-20% as fees increased over time. In short, with even a good scholarship you'll still be paying 80% of fees yourself.
Also be aware that fees are generally increasing by around 6-10% per year and VAT is expected to come in on school fees from 2025. so even with a scholarship, in 2 years you'll be paying something like what full fees are currently.
Bursaries are a different matter. There are some schools still with very generous bursary schemes. But they're means-tested.
There is an awkward middle ground for those on household incomes of 60-100k where the income is enough to disallow them from bursary schemes but not enough to pay fees from net income without significant bursary assistance.
From SE london you could try for the Kent or sutton grammars.

St Paul’s in Barnes offers bursaries for above average joint incomes. You will both be expected to work, but they are realistic about incomes in London.

Bursaries for financial help. Scholarship is a percentage reduction. Each school has their own policy so worth checking each website and calling or emailing admission office. Alleyn and Emanuel seem to have bursaries and lots of primary state schools applying at 11+.
Grammar schools are worth it as well and less financial worries.
Good Luck.

I have pm-ed you.

You are right, there are so many uncertainties down the road. As @twistyizzy mentioned, indeed we are wary of any financial supports being withdrawn or reduced when the school situation or political landscape changes, let alone the fee inflation and potential VAT.

Thank you, @TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams, love your train of thoughts. Commute is a very good point, i.e. the boy can save > 2000 hrs over 7yrs if we make the right choice. Also spot on re the no of entrance exams he can take, naturally can’t go more than 3. I guess, if financial support is very limited from a particular independent school, we won’t even register becoz we simply can’t afford it.

Thanks for expanding my thinking landscape. I have never thought of Y7-8 in grammar, and then switch to independent at yr9 or 12.

You will need to check the entry requirements for 13+ now... lots of the kids will come from Preps and do pre-testing in Y6 and then exams in Y8, but there are often lots of routes as not all kids will have gone to prep.

Worth having a look around now. Somewhere like Rugby could be a good fit - superb music, good academics, very good with SEN and it was one of the less flashy schools that we looked at. They also have good bursary provision. (And amazing food).

Thanks everyone for advice, pointers and sharing. We are still learning our ropes as parents and wants to be as supportive to them as we can.

Our Plan A is naturally Grammar becoz there is an excellent one close to us. The Plan B (independent) is more for the “just in case he can’t get in” scenario. Recently we often ask ourselves “is it worth having a look at the top independent? Is it worth stretching our limit to give him (and/or his sister) another option?” and we acknowledge it is a space “we don’t know what we don’t know” and hence this post to explore if this option could be available and realistic for us.

I guess, if the financial support is very limited from a particular independent school, we won’t even register becoz we simply can’t afford it.

I guess, if the financial support is very limited from a particular independent school, we won’t even register becoz we simply can’t afford it.

You don’t seem to have understood. If you have a clever child and insufficient income / assets to pay fees - you need a bursary, not a scholarship. Bursaries are means tested and can be up to 100%. (Some places will even pay for uniform and trips in addition.)

Roughly 20 to 25% of pupils at ‘top independents’ might be on some level of bursary. But you need to know about the application process well in advance.

@hayfin you have to pay to register in order to start the admissions application. They won't do an assessment or tell you whether you've been awarded one until after entrance exams etc. You pay a fee upon registering then get invited to sit the entrance exam and go through bursary application. So you won't know before you pay for registration what your chances are of being offered a scholarship/bursary.