Bursary

Independent Schools as an alternative to Grammar

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Taz1981
Posts: 63
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2019 12:57 am

Bursary

Post by Taz1981 »

Hi All,

My daughter has passed her entrance exams and we have applied for a bursary. We have a call in the next few days with the bursary department and we just don’t want to say the wrong thing. Basically it’s the next 5 years of our lives and we do want to put some sort of savings aside as we have none. We still have another child to raise but is us saving anything frowned upon and if we managed to save £3-4K and the end of the year would the school want the entire amount? We also have no pensions so we would like to put some away too. I know the private schools are for the rich but we feel the school she is in is far to easy for her abs a private school is the perfect environment. She passed all free grammar schools but we are very far outside each catchment area so our chances are slim. I hate asking as I know bursary’s are for the incredibly poor and we are fortunate to not be in that bracket but at the same time our boiler is leaking, our car needs replacing and so many other things. We simply don’t know how to ask without coming across like we are going to save and it’s going to be all ours while we take the bursary.
hermanmunster
Posts: 12817
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Re: Bursary

Post by hermanmunster »

What usually happens with bursaries is not that you ask for an amount of money but that the schools assesses your financial situation against set criteria and then makes an offer - it is up to you to then decide if you can afford the difference between what they offer and the full fees.

The sort of things that look at are:
income
sometimes assets eg second properties
savings

They then make allowances for eg:
Other children
pension contributions (but not if excessive)
mortgage costs

Here is some info re bursaries from a school in BIrmingham - they all vary but this is an example of how they view the process

https://www.kehs.org.uk/uploads/Assiste ... mation.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://www.kehs.org.uk/images/Admissio ... -19-20.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (PS I think this is a very generous scheme)
Dev1
Posts: 122
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 8:20 pm

Re: Bursary

Post by Dev1 »

Hi hermanmunster

I regularly see this line "assessable household gross income" - what that exactly mean ? - Gross family income after tax or Gross family income after tax Minus allowances as you have mentioned.

for example


As a guide, free places may be awarded where total assessable household gross income is below £38,000. Where an offer of a free place is made, and a student uses the school coach service this will also be subsidised. The ceiling for eligibility for financial support is approximately £80,000 gross. Between these two figures contributions towards fees will be on a sliding scale. At 11+, awards may also take account of academic merit, and can be offered in conjunction with an Academic or Music Scholarship.
hermanmunster
Posts: 12817
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Re: Bursary

Post by hermanmunster »

it totally depends on the school you are looking at and what their policy is re income ie what they include in the assessments.
Some schools are very conscious of people who appear to have a low income but live a very affluent lifestyle - people on standard PAYE are much easier to assess!
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