Episode Details

How to get bursaries and assisted places for top private schools

The gift of education is one of the most valuable things you can give to your children. However, the cost of sending a child or grandchild to an independent or private (strangely, also known as a “public school”) school has soared well above the rate of inflation, yet the number of UK pupils in private education has never been higher. Why is this?

Part of the answer is that more than £1bn a year of financial assistance is available to parents, enabling one in three students to have their school fees reduced or even waived, according to the FT.

School fees have become a major problem for the middle classes in recent years. The cost of a private education is nearly 50% higher than a decade ago, according to data from the Independent Schools Council (ISC).

Average fees for day pupils are now nearly £4,800 per term, or just over £14,000 a year. Fees are higher in the Southeast and London, where boarding school fees now average more than £13,000 a term — close to £40,000 per year, according to the ISC.

Scholarships and bursaries have become a key factor in affordability, but many parents may not be aware of the level of help available. For instance, at some schools, parents who apply for means-tested support could qualify even if they have a household income of £90,000.

Competition for the brightest children means that an increasing amount of assistance is being provided on a “needs blind” basis to pupils with a flair for particular subjects, such as music and sports.

My Son won a music scholarship and bursary, which covered part of the fees, and a government assisted place scheme, which was later abolished by the Tony Blair government.

The strict application criteria will vary for each school, but typically with a high level of financial disclosure required to obtain means-tested funding.

Schools reject assistance requests from parents who own second homes or expensive properties. If the school senses parents could afford to pay the fees by downsizing their home, or asking grandparents for help, they will say so.

Independent schools need to justify their charitable status, which has encouraged more generosity in the form of scholarships and means-tested bursaries. The ISC says that £800m of the £1bn provided in “fee assistance” last year came directly from the schools themselves.

Over 175,000 ISC students currently enjoy some form of fee reduction, around half of these through means testing. The number of those receiving “free” fully paid places more than 6,000 pupils, an increase of 5 per cent year-on-year.

Parents of children who win a scholarship can often also apply for a bursary — often referred to as an “assisted place”.

In addition to help with school fees, financial help may be granted towards the cost of expensive uniforms, sports equipment, laptops, trips and other travel costs. The vast majority of this kind of financial assistance is directed at UK families, but many parents do not know how to access the increased funding. “Believe it or not, it’s quite a challenge for independent schools to get applications from the families for whom their bursaries are intended — gifted children from low-income families,” says Catherine Stoker, managing director of Independent Education Consultants, which advises parents on choosing the right school. “Scholarships and bursaries are certainly one of the most ‘searched for’ items on our website,” she says. “Parents often call us for advice on how to secure bursaries — it’s a confusing area. Parents who would be eligible often lack the confidence to call their local independent school and inquire about how to apply. Sometimes they don’t know bursaries exist.”

In general, schools will seek to ascertain the “relevant income” — the gross household income less an amount of between £2,000 and £3,000 per dependen