Gross income for assisted places.

[hermanmunster]

Keep fingers crossed for the KEHS exam, children can perform very differently on different days - often they interview to assess as well if applying for APs

[Choco]

Good luck with getting some assistance.

To be perfectly honest, the higher bursaries are often only given to those performing best in entrance exams - so scholarships and bursaries often go together. The children who will qualify are often those who have or would pass the state school 11+ and who will perform well on paper. When schools are heavily oversubscribed in applications for bursaries, they will give them to the applicants most likely to deliver great GCSE and A Level results, who meet the means testing criteria.
I'm sure they say they are looking for potential. The 11+ exams would generally say that too. Yes, the independents have greater flexibility and can see other skills and abilities a child might bring as well as interviewing, but usually academic ability is still top priority for academic schools.
Sorry if this all sounds a bit harsh, but it's important to be realistic. Have you got a back-up which you are happy with if a bursary offer doesn't emerge?
All the best for finding the right school for your DD.

[kenyancowgirl]

I have to be honest and say, like Choco, admissions tend to offer Bursaries to those who have applied and meet the needs of the means testing and also are often in line to get scholarship offers too - ie those who perform at the very top in the entrance exam. Obviously once in a school, if someone's financial circumstances changed significantly and their child had been showing real potential and/or excelling in sport or music or drama etc etc, then if there was money in the bursary pot, at a point other than admissions, they might be more inclined to give a bursary "for potential".

Whilst hermanmunster is right, the independent schools exams can test different things and children perform differently (ultimately the private school needs to fill its' seats as well) so your DD may do well enough to be considered for a bursary, but competition for these can be as fierce as the 11+!! The pot is not unlimited, so make sure you have a solid back up plan - talk to the Sencos in any schools you are considering, if you haven't already, and see what support they can offer someone with dyslexia.

[quasimodo]

I'm not sure how it works for Kehs, but for a lot of the more selective independents, bursary candidates would need to be at scholarship level academically. If your daughter did not reach the pass level for the 11+ can you get extra support to boost her academics? The bursars enquiry is very detailed. They will ask for payslips, P60, pension paperwork, bank statements over several months etc. Be prepared for not being offered as much as you might need. In addition, think about travel costs, uniform and sports kit costs, trips and fee increases. Clubs all cost extra too.

My DD has already taken the exam. I believe that KEHS looks at potential of children rather than seeing how quickly they can work like the grammar exam. My DD is very capable but has dyslexia so trying to do the amount of questions in a short amount of time was tough for her. She is very creative and this school had 2 creative writing papers. It is just another option we are exploring along with a couple of other independant schools. I feel that with the smaller class sizes she will excel and reach her full potential rather than getting lost at the local comp. Some of the other schools look at scholarships in areas other than maths and English and these are other strengths of hers. Only time will tell. Such a difficult decision as where is best to place my DD as she is extremely bright but struggles to get it on paper.

I am reading from this your dd didn't have any extra time during the entrance exams.Its a difficult journey finding the right Secondary school with good sen support.Did you not apply for any extra time or is it not yet her normal way of working ? Irrespective if you get the issue dealt with at Secondary school it can only be a positive that when she is working with extra time she will no longer be treated unequally and can show her real underlying abilities.

[thirdtimemum]

She didn't get extra time even though it is her usual way of learning. Birmingham also refused to let her have yellow paper which would also have meant her reading would have been quicker. For some reason they also gave her an oversized sheet of paper which she struggled with as it was too big. Something we hadn't asked for. I would appeal but do not feel grammar is right for her. My DS is in a grammar school and it would not be right for DD. Her dyslexia is not severe and I feel she just needs teachers who know her. School report she is brighter than DS just struggles to get things on paper. She also has hypermobility which means she cannot write quickly. We are hoping that she will soon be touch typing so that she can use a laptop.
Grammar exams , in my opinion, test how quickly a child can put a correct mark in the box and very different to the KEHS exam. I'm not after a scholarship at KEHS as I don't think she will perform that well but her English is very good, she is extremely creative , so I think we have a fair chance at getting in and maybe offered an AP. We are realistic and this is just one option of many including non selective independant schools whereby they also offer scholarships in science and drama which again are her strengths.
It is just very difficult to find somewhere that recognises her intelligence but also her struggles with writing it down. The on my schools that I have seen that seem to be able to do this is independant schools. My husband and I both have "average jobs" and the ways things are now with 3 children we wouldn't be able to afford full fees so was just looking at an idea of fees with an AP.
I only know of two children who have applied before to kes and one didn't do well on the grammar exams and didn't get in but was offered a place with a large bursary to KES. In my opinion 2 very different exams.

[hermanmunster]

I only know of two children who have applied before to kes and one didn't do well on the grammar exams and didn't get in but was offered a place with a large bursary to KES. In my opinion 2 very different exams.

KES do have lots more money for APs, KEHS do what they can in the way of raising funds (including phoning alumnae frequently ) but they are aware that the boys can offer more in the way of financial support

[TIDDLYMUM]

firsttimemum- just a little interesting note for you. My friends son was severely dyslexic, and went to a non selective indie, had some reasonable SEN support but not much. He did however get great support during GCSES. He attained 3A 3B 3C , which we were all blown away as this was a child who could hardly write a legible sentence when he started at school.

Hope you can find the right school for your DD

[thirdtimemum]

firsttimemum- just a little interesting note for you. My friends son was severely dyslexic, and went to a non selective indie, had some reasonable SEN support but not much. He did however get great support during GCSES. He attained 3A 3B 3C , which we were all blown away as this was a child who could hardly write a legible sentence when he started at school.

Hope you can find the right school for your DD

Thank you for your supportive words. I fully expect her to get high grades in many of her subjects her memory for information is amazing and if she uses a laptop at school it will make it much easier for her. I think as gets older it will become less of a problem. Luckily she loves reading and always has her head in a book which is often half the problem with dyslexics.

[mike1880]

Generalising wildly, my perception (I have no inside knowledge) is that the scholarships tend to go to pupils from the independent primaries while the bursaries for obvious reasons don't. I would doubt there's a huge overlap.

[Warks mum]

I'm afraid I completely disagree mike1880 - for once!

In our (very limited) experience, a bursary is almost definitely linked to a scholarship in that only those who are already awarded a scholarship are likely to be in line for a high bursary.