Bursary q - Whitgift Foundation

[hermanmunster]

Ed's mum is right - there can be a point where any extra money earned or acquired is expected to go towards fees and hence the parental contribution goes up... If there is little chance of increases (and as a fellow NHS emplyee I can assure the chance of much of an increase in the next few years is less than zero) then it is well worth going for and investigating.
Schools HAVE to have these places - they need to keep their charitable status, and need people like you to ask the questions - get on the phone to the bursar!

[souverian]

Oh, definitely - I take your point, Ed's mum. And I think that's fair enough really - the bursaries should only be going to those with a genuine inability to meet the fees, after all. But I can imagine that the 'jumps' do get higher each time, and more difficult to manage. But it's worth it, right?

And yes, hermanmunster - you're absolutely spot on about NHS salaries. It's the first time I've considered a pay freeze to be a point in our family's favour!

Thank you everyone - this has been enlightening (and made me feel rather excited too, which I'm sure can't be a good thing!) I'm sure I'll be asking lots more in the months to come

[mumsybumsy]

Hi,on the subject of busaries does anyone where the school would stand, if for example you were on low income or even unemployed but were a property owner ? would they expect you to give up the equity on your property ?

[hermanmunster]

I think they tend to look at second homes, spare fields etc etc......

Apocryphal stories of looking more closely at people who have used capital to pay off mortgages and then have no capital.....

Generally own home (provided it is not a mansion ) would be excluded

[Ed's mum]

Yes, worth it. Most definitely.
Good luck!

[mumsybumsy]

Hi ! thanks fo that. any other advice would be appreciated.For example if you are going for a busary is necassary to get in the top percentage or just make it into the school ??

[hermanmunster]

usually have to get high mark but depends on school..

[Third time round]

Hi....I know a bit about single parents and bursaries from the Whitgift Foundation. My son was offered a full bursary by both schools last year with a parental contribution of just over £200 a year for each.

Bursaries are means tested and are awarded in rank order of the exam results to those who qualify. The Whitgift Foundation is very generous and offers assistance to those who earn up to £70000ish

My total income including salary, working tax credit and maintainance from my ex husband is £27000 a year.
I own my house with a mortgage, I think they take large amounts of equity into account, but I read that some schools only take into account equity above the average value of an average house in the area. For the calculation they took into account.

My earnings
My working tax credit
My maintainance payments form my ex husband. (If you are divorced or not married and maintainance payments have been decided by the csa or court order these figures are used and the ex spouse does not have to declare his income to the foundation. If your ex is not making payments then they reserve the right to request his/her income figures and calculate the figure he/she should be paying and add it onto your income.)
My mortgage interest paid
An allowance of £2000 is deducted for each child in full time education (I have 2 others)
Any debts are taken into account
Any charges on the house

The parental contribution is then worked out.
My son was awarded an academic and music scholarship of 25% which is also deducted from the fees, but this was only At Trinity and didn't make a difference to the fees payable in the end as both were just over £200, but should my income increase, which I hope it will, then the scholarship will become important.

I hope this is helpful, but if you call the Whitgift Foundation they will send you all the information.

My son is very musical so we chose Trinity and he is in his second term there......and he loves it! It has certainly been worth all the work and worry over the fees and bursary.

Good Luck!

[souverian]

Wow, thankyou, third time round. That is really helpful.

Your situation is very similar to mine re: income. I would be completely bowled over to get a bursary of that size, tbh... But I realise obviously that it's also heavily dependent on exam performance etc., so I won't assume anything or get my hopes up too much just yet!

You're right that the Foundation is very generous, though. I feel so lucky to have this opportunity for ds. Fingers crossed it works out.

Trinity is a fab school - I would be thrilled for ds to get a place there, though he is probably more on the sporty side than musical which is why Whitgift just has the edge for us atm. Glad your ds is having such a great time, and it's all been worth it in the end! Thanks again.