Independent schools and bursaries/scholarships

[Looking for help]

Ok so this is going to sound as if I am trying to cause a bit of a riot on here, but I am genuinely interested to know what people think.

When my son didn't pass the 11+ exam some years ago, we looked into private schools. ( I am absolutely politically opposed to such things, but you know when it's your child, you do anything, and politics go flying out the window).We found a beautiful school, full of wonderful facilities etc, would probably have been perfect for him, but rejected it for two reasons.
1. It was boys only, and
2. We knew we could not commit to 7 years of crazy fees especially with older ones going on to university.

I have read a few posts on here about people getting places in independent schools but not being able to afford them, so looking for bursaries/scholarships....and then getting some help towards the fees, but it might not quite be enough.

So my question is, is it fair to put your child in for independent exams when you know that should s/he be successful there is no way you can afford it, or do people actually go full steam ahead and get sufficient financial assistance to allow them to take up the place ?

As I said, I am not trying to cause upset, but genuinely interested.

[hermanmunster]

LFH... you said it all for me.


except I don't mind single gender schools

[Looking for help]

LFH... you said it all for me.


except I don't mind single gender schools

I guess that's juist a personal choice, the only reason I didn't want that for my youngest was because I didn't want him to have a hugely different education from his older brother and sisters at a mixed grammar And of course we might have got over that if we could have afforded the fees

[hermanmunster]

It is an interesting point trying to give siblings the same education, I am fortunate in that both kids have had private primary then single gender GS - so not too many dilemmas over it all. I think there are huge problems for parents when kids are of differing abilities / finances change / house moves etc etc

[Looking for help]

Yes, that's what we've strived to do, but it hasn't been particularly easy. The youngest one is so busy being gifted and talented that there's not much time for actual learning, if he'd gone to the grammar he'd have not been noticed One of our older ones only scraped in by the skin of her teeth, and struggled a bit, but would have struggled more anywhere else, that I'm sure of. Maybe it's all worked out for the best, we wont know for some years yet, I just wonder should we have looked into funding for an indie

[mike1880]

Speaking for ourselves, we had weeks of domestic discord with one half of the family determined on the indie while the other half (thinking of the previous year's holiday ) argued equally fiercely for the GS. The indie was always our first choice because it seemed the right place for her, but I said at the start of the process that she'd have to get a large scholarship to contemplate it - which she didn't.

It remains to be seen whether we can afford it for 7 years; the figures I did beforehand say we can, as things stand, but there's no guarantee things will stay that way so we'll have to take it a year at a time. As I pointed out to the family at the time, the indie is high risk because the GS place has now gone forever; if we can't afford to keep the fees up she'll end up with a much worse education than she'd have had at GS.

Mike

[Looking for help]

I appreciate your honesty Mike - do you have other children at indie or grammar ? And do you still have holidays ? Mind you we're not going away this year - bl**dy university costs are too high

[succeed]

I suppose the answer is: 'it depends'. It depends on how realistic, based on current form, the child is likely to win a scholarship.It also depends , based on knowledge of past scholarship awards, how much that scholarship is likely to be worth and whether it would 'tip' the balance , after as Mike says, on 'working out the figures',on the possible affordability of the school (for the majority of people, I would imagine a 20% scholarship may not amount to this).If the answer is no to both of the above questions, then it would seem rather unfair on the child, and futile, in pursing the examination process.
With regard to those eligible for an AP, the same criteria would apply , I imagine. I guess lots of us just live in hope and pray for a miracle award of 100% scholarship

[blessedmum]

We went the indie route for my older dd even though she got a grammar place. It was not an easy decision as well as she seemed to be the only one amongst family and friends that was not going to take up her grammar place.

We did our sums and have some contingency plans in place although fees at the moment are paid from income.

Its a huge huge commitment and yes we have less holidays and have to forgo some things.

I am not sure I will have applied for indie though if I was solely relying on bursary as these things are not guaranteed and with much less funds in the country, its a long shot. The child will also be very disssappointed after visiting potential school and seeing whats on offer. But everyone has to make the decision they feel is right for their families.

[Looking for help]

. But everyone has to make the decision they feel is right for their families.

This is absolutely true - and is what we did, as otherwise we would have been stuffed

With regard to those eligible for an AP, the same criteria would apply , I imagine. I guess lots of us just live in hope and pray for a miracle award of 100% scholarship

Good luck

I'm just wondering now why thoughts of scholarships and bursaries never occurred to me, seeing the number of people talking about them