Bursaries - Gaming the system

[Woodbine]

A few years ago when my eldest was at an independent I became aware that a girl in her year was on a bursary but lived in a very large detached house in a desirable neighbourhood - the father ran some sort of business. The family looked very prosperous and much, much wealthier than us. I guess he had a brilliant accountant.

I thought of this recently and wondered if gaming the system like this was still goes on or are the schools better at investigating what people's true financial state is? Sorted of related to this I saw on this forum an argument made for some entitlements - bursaries, discounts etc because of a supposed FSM qualification, but in other posts same poster quite happily seeking private one to one tuition. I am a cynic but is strikes me as odd that someone can afford £20+ or more for a tutor, but needs a school meals subsidy.


*My child got through the Sutton grammar exams without tutoring. I will be pretty miffed if he gets passed over for a place by an FSM child of parent/s with an enough disposable income to have had him privately tutored - at a cost of hundred of pounds - before the exam*.

[SunlampVexesEel]

>>> I guess he had a brilliant accountant.
Possibly.

IMHO You're heading down a route to madness and being bitter and twisted... change tack and ignore it.

Regards
SVE

[Kingston mum]

Woodbine is the last paragraph in your post a quote or your statement ?
Nowadays I've heard that indies are very good at assessing the bursary cases and very thorough you have to supply tax returns, payslips, tell them what car you drive, where you've been on holiday etc. Also the financial situation is reassessed every year. I understand that you can't have the fees paid 100% as a bursar and some parents have to get a charity grant and go through even more assessments. Not sure if this applies to all the schools but in the present economic climate schools are very careful not to give bursary to kids that don't qualify as the funds are tight and can you imagine the full fee paying parents's backlash if they find out of cases like you mentioned?
LEH apparently doesn't give a bursary if the parents are homeowners irrespective of income so I heard from somebody that was refused a bursary although she is a single mother on a low income but she has a mortgage on her flat ie she's not renting.
So the checks are much more thorough however some parents stop at nothing even in some cases divorcing so the income drops and they get a bursary. Mad ! I wonder what the kids think in this cases where the parents teach them that the end justify the means?

[Ladymuck]

I think that the numbers applying for bursaries has increased hugely in the last decade year on year. Previously few people applied, and so some of the people who were awarded bursaries did raise eyebrows. Also schools seemed quite naive with respect to dealing with separated or divorced parents. Locally the numbers of applicants per bursary has increased to 15 or so chasing each bursary, so competition for them is tight. Schools are now tracking their investment by way of bursaries and scholarships more closely as well.

That said people will make different decisions about how they manage their finances and the risks that they are willing to take. A prosperous lifestyle can be funded on the back of enormous debt and risk. And usually it is people who own their own business who are used to taking that level of entrepreneurial risk.

[zeinab]

A few years ago when my eldest was at an independent I became aware that a girl in her year was on a bursary but lived in a very large detached house in a desirable neighbourhood - the father ran some sort of business. The family looked very prosperous and much, much wealthier than us. I guess he had a brilliant accountant.

I thought of this recently and wondered if gaming the system like this was still goes on or are the schools better at investigating what people's true financial state is? Sorted of related to this I saw on this forum an argument made for some entitlements - bursaries, discounts etc because of a supposed FSM qualification, but in other posts same poster quite happily seeking private one to one tuition. I am a cynic but is strikes me as odd that someone can afford £20+ or more for a tutor, but needs a school meals subsidy.


*My child got through the Sutton grammar exams without tutoring. I will be pretty miffed if he gets passed over for a place by an FSM child of parent/s with an enough disposable income to have had him privately tutored - at a cost of hundred of pounds - before the exam*.

Best not to jump to conclusions as you really don't know their full story. Or do you ?

[Stroller]

A few years ago when my eldest was at an independent I became aware that a girl in her year was on a bursary but lived in a very large detached house in a desirable neighbourhood - the father ran some sort of business. The family looked very prosperous and much, much wealthier than us. I guess he had a brilliant accountant.

Did you do the decent thing and report your suspicions to the bursar?

[Catseye]

Eton College decide on the merits of bursaries on the basis of disposable income, so one could live in an ancestral country mansion i.e asset rich but disposable income poor and still qualify for a handsome bursary , this allows our overLords to send their DC to the same school they attended right back to 1066

[zeinab]

Eton College decide on the merits of bursaries on the basis of disposable income, so one could live in an ancestral country mansion i.e asset rich but disposable income poor and still qualify for a handsome bursary , this allows our overLords to send their DC to the same school they attended right back to 1066

2nd this post. The family who live in a large detached house in a desirable location may not have a lot of money left at the end of the month, therefore they would be entitled to a bursary.

[target2016]

Some private schools would then expect such a mansion be sold and move to a smaller/cheaper house - in order to afford a better part of the fees, from what I gather...

[ToadMum]

Eton College decide on the merits of bursaries on the basis of disposable income, so one could live in an ancestral country mansion i.e asset rich but disposable income poor and still qualify for a handsome bursary , this allows our overLords to send their DC to the same school they attended right back to 1066

2nd this post. The family who live in a large detached house in a desirable location may not have a lot of money left at the end of the month, therefore they would be entitled to a bursary.

Mmm... Personally, I would make a bit of a distinction between finding yourself in the ancestral pile you can do little to offload, possibly on a modest personal income, and spending most of a large income on a purely lifestyle choice big house in a posh area then fancying seeing your kids to a 'status' school on the cheap to go with it. One hopes, so would a bursar?