Bursary q - Whitgift Foundation
Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 10:05 pm
Hello everyone - new to this forum so please be gentle with me!
Not at the stage of applying yet but weighing up options. Ds is currently at state primary but, for a variety of reasons, I am giving some consideration to indie secondaries. Very, very tempted by Whitgift and Trinity (both my brother and I went to Whitgift Foundation schools many years ago and have very happy memories), particularly W. I feel that ds would really fly at W - he is confident, creative, loves his sport, and I think he would fairly easily manage the entrance exams when the time comes.
But... I am a single parent, rent my flat, work part-time in the NHS, so not exactly a high-earner. I do have some savings but nothing that could ever come anywhere close to funding an indie education, even for a year! I'm hoping, obviously, that ds would be eligible for some level of bursary but am not exactly sure what the criteria are. Would they take xh's income into account even though we are divorced? Does the level of bursary depend entirely on income or do they take exam performance etc into account too?
I guess what I'm asking is - is the idea of someone like me sending a child to W or T completely out of the question? I wouldn't want to put ds through the stress of entrance exams etc if it turns out that I would still be asked to pay out thousands in fees every year - that's completely out of my reach. Please don't think I'm asking for something for nothing - I just want to be realistic before I embark on this whole journey to secondary!
I'd really appreciate any experiences or advice - many thanks
Not at the stage of applying yet but weighing up options. Ds is currently at state primary but, for a variety of reasons, I am giving some consideration to indie secondaries. Very, very tempted by Whitgift and Trinity (both my brother and I went to Whitgift Foundation schools many years ago and have very happy memories), particularly W. I feel that ds would really fly at W - he is confident, creative, loves his sport, and I think he would fairly easily manage the entrance exams when the time comes.
But... I am a single parent, rent my flat, work part-time in the NHS, so not exactly a high-earner. I do have some savings but nothing that could ever come anywhere close to funding an indie education, even for a year! I'm hoping, obviously, that ds would be eligible for some level of bursary but am not exactly sure what the criteria are. Would they take xh's income into account even though we are divorced? Does the level of bursary depend entirely on income or do they take exam performance etc into account too?
I guess what I'm asking is - is the idea of someone like me sending a child to W or T completely out of the question? I wouldn't want to put ds through the stress of entrance exams etc if it turns out that I would still be asked to pay out thousands in fees every year - that's completely out of my reach. Please don't think I'm asking for something for nothing - I just want to be realistic before I embark on this whole journey to secondary!
I'd really appreciate any experiences or advice - many thanks