My dd wants to go to boarding school but we can't afford the fees...

[always34never]

My 14y/old is desperate to go to a boarding school (in the uk) for sixth form but we can't really afford the fees. Dh and I both have full time jobs and earn about 100,000 pounds between us.

In my opinion she could qualify for a scholarship but even then I don't know if we could afford it. Is there any chance of us getting financial support of any kind? She would really love to go.

[Aramox]

Zombie thread ffs

[Ifeelfat]

My son is going to an excellent co-Ed boarding school for his sixth form. There is no way we could have afforded it (c.£50k and other children) but he’s bright and I always wanted him to go, its fantastic. He tried for a scholarship which normally gives up to 50% of fees, and I filled in all the bursary forms. Anyway they offered him a 95% scholarship, none of it bursaried.
Incredible.

[KaleJuicer]

Sevenoaks School has a boarding House and bursaries are Available if income up to £120,000. If she is academically able / sporty/ musical she might be able to get a scholarship with a bursary on top. Bursaries are for financial need scholarships are for outstanding ability in one area. My DD was offered scholarships ranging from 20% - 50% so they make a massive difference.

[gogglebox15]

We aren't on nearly 100k but both my DS and DD are on partial scholarships to extremely expensive private schools - we both inherited a bit, but its very do able.

[Slipshodsibyl]

Where are you living and does she feel the school she currently attends is not what she wants?

[motherstongue]

No. He is at a boys school.

[always34never]

motherstongue, does your ds go to a co-ed school? If so which one?

[itsbetterthanabox]

You can afford it. You earn a lot.
Although there are excellent state colleges much better than boarding school.

[TeenAndTween]

There is some state boarding available at 6th form.
Search Peter Symmonds Winchester.
However this may only be for certain types eg Falklands and military.

[scaevola]

My daughter would love a chalet in the Alps. Hey ho.

Better send her to Hill House then

[tara49]

Check out this amazing state school with boarding facilities - ran like an old fashioned grammar school with outstanding results and you only pay for the boarding.
St Georges - Harpenden, Herts

[rightsaidfrederick]

Do be aware that UK student finance is based on residency, not nationality. So, unless you can prove that you're only there temporarily (they tend to look at things like your employment contract i.e. are you on secondment, if you maintain a home in the UK, and where you spend your holidays) she will be classed as an EU / international student. This has big implications.

If she's classed as an EU student, she'll still get a student loan for fees (which will be £9000) but she won't get any maintenance costs paid for. In fairness, given your income, this only makes you about £3500 worse off than you would otherwise have been.

If she's classed as an international student, you'll have to pay international fees (anywhere from £15-35,000 per year, depending on uni and subject), and be eligible for no student finance.

Her being back in the UK for boarding school would mean that she was mainly here for the purposes of education, so she wouldn't re-establish UK fees status that way. It takes three years of being here for reasons that aren't mainly about education to be classed as a UK student.

You need to take account of this for both her and siblings before you start to even think about boarding school - there's no point getting an offer from Oxford if she can't afford to go.

[BOFtastic]

My daughter would love a chalet in the Alps. Hey ho.

[motherstongue]

I'm not sure many schools offer scholarships at 20 - 30% these days. Many schools now offer scholarships with as little as 5 or 10%, some with no fee reduction at all, the idea being that the scholarship is really just a status symbol of sorts. This is to prevent a lot of money going to pupils whose parents can afford the fees as it leaves a larger pot for the bursary fund for pupils who really couldn't attend the school without financial help.

If your daughter is fortunate enough to obtain a scholarship and you manage to get a level of fee reduction too then I don't agree with other posters who say don't do for one what you can't do for the others. She will have achieved the scholarship on her own merit and if it can be made possible, why not give her the opportunity. Each child is different, with different aspirations and abilities and I feel you must do what is best for each child.

My DS is at Boarding school in London, we don't live in England. The biggest drawbacks are the costs of flights not just for him but also for anything we need to attend at the school like parents meetings, shows he may be in, parent get-to-gethers (dinners with housemasters, charity events etc), prize giving and so on. Don't underestimate just how expensive all that is. There is also the drawback that exeats are short and even shorter for those who don't live locally by the time they fly home. Even if you are lucky enough to get a bursary it will not cover the travel costs or uniform costs or school trips. I may be wrong but in my experience to get any help with those things you would need 100% bursary or very close to it for a school to be so charitable.

[AntoinetteCosway]

Some state boarding schools are brilliant. Ripon Grammar is one of them. Then you'd only have to pay for the boarding aspect so the fees would be much cheaper than other boarding schools.

[Idespair]

University is like boarding school. Can't she just wait until then?

[Mintyy]

Pesky thing about private education: lots of people can't afford it. I'm really surprised that you think you might qualify for a bursary. Why?

[MrsBright]

Unis are interested in high grades. Being at a UK school wont make ANY difference to her chances if getting a Uni place - its her that counts, not the school.

[CatAssTrophy]

I think that if you can't afford to offer your other children the same opportunity, then you shouldn't offer it to the eldest.

I imagine that we all wish we could afford to give our children things that will improve their chances in education, but if the money isn't there, then it isn't there.

Not quite the same, but my nephew recently pleaded with my brother and SIL to go on an educational school trip abroad for the week, as it's a country he hopes to live and work in when he's older. It cost £1000.

They couldn't afford it so he didn't get to go.

I think that was also an important life lesson for him to learn. Some things are just out of some people's price range/budget. His parents can't give him everything.

[derektheladyhamster]

Is 100k net or gross? my son's school will offer burseries to those on 80K net or less.

[YouAreMyRain]

Don't send her then. (Is 100k not enough? ??)

[OhSoVintage]

It depends on the school as I know ours does not have an income cap and will take your outgoings into consideration as well as your earnings but I would say its highly unlikely over 50000 unless there are extreme circumstances.

'improve her chances of getting into a good university' Im not so sure about that it depends on your current school set up.

My daughter is at a boarding school and boards part-time, she gets a bursary for some of the fees and the boarding is something the school offered as they felt it would help her because she wasn't coping with the distance.

TBH academically when she was a full time day girl compared with a boarder there is not much difference.

Day girls have the same lessons, stay for prep and academic outings with the boarders etc and get the same education. The only difference is boarders have better down time to relax as there is less traveling unless you are local, they also seem to integrate better socially as they create a bond.
Theres a lot going on at the moment with universities trying to reduce the public school intake which has resulted in a few parents I know actually pulling there children out from various public schools in sixth form because they are scared that the school being private will count against them.

I think if you are unhappy with your current set up and found a school that was very good for your dd academically then great but don't just go to improve your chances of getting into a uni as thats not always the case.
She sounds self motivated anyway which is great, Im sure she will do well. My dd needs a constant push or she will be quite happy to do as little as possible so for her it works great :)

[always34never]

We are over seas but originally from the UK, so yes, she does understand that the weather can be horrible.

Our ds might also expect to go if she went, although I don't think he's as keen on the idea as she is.

I don't think she even considered midnight feast in the dorm, she thinks boarding would be better for her from an academic point of view and would also improve her chances of getting into a good university.
Of course, this is just what she's told me so I could be missing some of the information although we have had numerous conversations on he topic.

[Travelledtheworld]

Sorry OP I may have misunderstood your post. Are you in the UK or overseas ?