Negotiating scholarship award

[SchoolrunGardener]

Our daughter applied for 2 local ish private girls schools and managed to secure an academic scholarship award for both.
Her school of preference offered a 10% reduction on fees, which although is amazing and obviously we’re delighted, at the risk of sounding very ungrateful, all the info they had sent out said academic scholarships could be awarded up to 50%. She was also offered an art scholarship but without the discount… so would apparently be able to attend the programme but without the saving.

She received 10% from the other school but they were clear this was the maximum for anyone. It’s a more expensive school too and was a bit of a back up.

Do you think many actually get offered the 50% or even 20%?
Are the discounts negotiable? It’s going to be so tight to send her there anyway, so every little would hugely help.

The school has just increased prices for September by 16% due to the VAT and we’re totally new to this as she is coming from a state school so I have no one else to really ask. Would it be totally frowned upon to ask the head if they could increase it?!

I would love to know too. I guess you can ask very politely and they shouldn't be offended.

Some schools are trying to absorb some of the VAT to try and keep fees as low as possible, this would impact scholarship funds as well.

Some children are offered multiple scholarships which can total a maximum of 50%. Could the school have meant that?

No I don’t believe so.
It definitely said the academic part could be up to 50%. I’m not sure how well she did in the interview for the scholarship…😬

Schools are under massive financial pressure with VAT, increased NI + business rates. Many are stopping new awards on scholarships/bursaries. By all means ask the Bursar but be prepared for a "no".
The Bursar is the person to speak to, not the Head.

I know of schools where they have offered as much as 60% scholarship but the vast majority are 10% discount.

In the case of the 60%, it was a particular child with a particular skill set. They would not have qualified for a bursary, and the school specifically wanted this one child and knew they would get multiple offers elsewhere.

You could try asking for more - I know parents who have done exactly that, but don't know any where they came away with a significantly bigger offer.

My guess is that they say up to 50% so there is no complaints further down the line if parents ask why child A has 50% and child B only 10%, but that the 50% is extraordinarily rare to be offered.

If you are not used to the private system, make sure you are very aware of the annual increase in fees (plus the VAT) and have factored all that in to your plans. This autumn is likely to be additional increases due to the new business rates and NI hits.

Have you got good state options? We looked at both sectors, and having seen the difference between fees when DD was in Y5/6 and now in Y11, I am thankful every day that we opted for state as what would have been a massive stretch back then is now in la la land for us... they have almost doubled in price over the that time.

I think 10% off is great in the current climate. My DS has both academic and music scholarship at his school and neither come with fee reductions. Music one conveys free instrument lessons (with expectations clear around ensemble participation) and academic one is a free programme of enrichment activities and mentoring, no fee reduction at all.

is there a possibility that you could get bursary as well? Would the state of your finances qualify?

I wouldn't fret about the 10% at the potential 50% school. Maybe they chose to spread it among more dc

Worth asking the bursar but if fees are going to be tight now and you’re not expecting massive change for the better with your finances I wouldn’t contemplate going with the 10% fee reduction. Fees are going to continue to increase more than inflation year on year imo.

Worth asking the bursar but if fees are going to be tight now and you’re not expecting massive change for the better with your finances I wouldn’t contemplate going with the 10% fee reduction. Fees are going to continue to increase more than inflation year on year imo.

DC’s school have cut scholarships down to the bone. Parents who’ve had almost the full 20% passed on are looking to ensure the school is being as prudent with funds as they possibly can.

The days of large scholarships are over for now, at DC’s school. They also go up around 10% each year.

@SchoolrunGardener , are you waiting for a state school place on Monday and how much time do you have left to accept the offer? I would try to speak to someone in admissions / bursar but also seriously consider the state school place too.

Both my dc got 25% (different years, different areas). Most scholarship holders got 10% but the school could and did go up to 50. A few families negotiated hard and got 10% awards bumped up if they were holding a few offers.
Really depends on the school and its finances - and, brutally, how much they want your child. And people don’t often advertise that they’ve negotiated, I just happen to have a few friends tell me /ask advice as they knew my dc had generous discounts (as it happens we didn’t negotiate as we were happy with 25%)

With scholarships from two schools, I would definitely negotiate. I know someone whose child had academic scholarship with fee reduction (10%) from one school and no scholarship from another school. They informed the second school that they had an academic scholarship and managed to get 25% fee reduction. So no harm asking. Depends on how popular the schools are. If they are struggling to fill the seats, there is high probability they will up the offer.

We got a scholarship increased from 15% to 25% as the deadline for commitments loomed.
I have to say it made me feel quite disillusioned about the process and that my child was a commodity that the school was trading…..
So in the end we turned the place down.
It depends how much they want your child/how desperate they are to fill places.
For one DC we were offered a 75% scholarship which is contrary to the independent school guidelines.
Private schools are a law unto themselves. Think carefully about how the admissions process characterises the school…..
I would really try to be dispassionate in deciding on which school best fits your child and family. Fees will increase by varying amounts over the 7 years so if you’ve decided to go private anyway, put the exact £ differences today to one side and decide on the best school and likely experience for your child.

As a pp says - are there no bursaries on offer at either school? Scholarships generally are for a merely nominal amount - but bursaries are means tested and can be up to 100%. Usually (in the past) if a school really wants your scholarship level child they’ll fall over themselves to provide a bursary if that’s what enables the child to attend.

Did you not have any such discussion? Perhaps your income / assets put you beyond any bursary threshold?

10% is pretty normal for a scholarship, and would need to be exceptionally talented to get more. Bursaries are different. You might be able to negotiate more, but the environment is different now due to vat, and in general I think schools are giving less before. individuals with specific skills might be able to achieve more support

There’s no harm in asking but be mindful of the financial pressures affecting independent schools right now. VAT is leading to a decline in applications anyway plus costs have increased significantly with NI etc.

For simplicity let’s say annual fees are £20k. You offer one 50% scholarship so you get £10k in fees coming into the school. Or you offer five scholarships at 10% each, say three take up the offer and you have £54k coming into the school.

50% scholarships are the exception and not the norm. Large discounts are usually a smaller (10%) scholarship with the difference made up by a bursary.

Thank you for all the replies.

We wouldn’t be eligible for any bursary.

We’ve done the calculations and modelling of future fees and can afford it by making different life style decisions. Eg. Holidays, cars and not moving house as we’d probably do if she was going to a state school. The local state isn't really an option for her… around a SEND need but possibly quite outing if I go into detail.

I am going to contact the admissions manager to ask politely, as if they could increase the discount it would make a big impact to us and it would make the decision a no brainer.

I do also think they struggled to fill places last year so hopefully that works in our interests this year. Who know.

I know a few kids that had scholarships to my kid's school but none were more than 10%. But no harm calling to make it clear their policy - just because they publish 'up to 50%' the crucial bit is 'up to'.

I do also think they struggled to fill places last year

You have checked that neither school is about to keel over and die from Parents Running Away Fast Syndrome?

The 50% - as mentioned above - will be for children with a specific skill and outstanding achievement rather than those who met a standard academic target iyswim?

So schools who offer sports scholarships Ime will offer 10% for people who play for county teams and maybe compete nationally for some sports (eg swimming and the school have a pool and swim team or football academies etc). But if you had a swimmer who swam for the country and is marketable or plays for a bog named team they will be offered more because they are great advertisement for the school and attract more income through their achievements and people wanting to join for the same opportunities.

I think the ‘up to amount’ is just to attract people but very few actually get it. My dd got a discount for both art and academics though, which did add up. So perhaps ask about that? Why you’re being offered a fee reduction for one but not the other.