Grants and Bursaries
Here is a guide to financing your child's education at an independent school.
Financial Matters
One of the major factors for many parents in deciding whether or not to send their children to independent schools
is the cost. Sending children to these institutions can be expensive, and can be a daunting prospect, but help is
at hand to guide you through the decision.
The first step is to work out exactly what your child's potential school or schools will charge you per year. You
can usually get this information by contacting the institution directly. This is important, because it is very
difficult to generalise when it comes to working out how much independent schooling will cost.
For example, the average price of sending a child to an independent boarding school in the UK is £27,600. However,
the prices for individual schools vary wildly. For example, the most expensive boarding school costs up to £39,885
a year.
There may be extras in addition to the yearly fees, such as school meals, after school clubs, school trips and
entrance fees for public examinations. This should be taken into consideration when working out which schools
you can afford. Extras can add anything up to another ten per cent onto a school bill.
This means it is important to work out, as much as you can, exactly how much your child's schooling is going to
cost you. SFIA's school fees specialists can help you out with any inquiries of this nature that you might have.
Planning for School Fees
If you intend to send your child to an independent school, it is important to plan the payment of fees in advance.
This does not just mean planning how you will pay the first year, as disrupting a child's education midway through
a vital stage can be very harmful. It would be unfortunate to find yourself unable to afford their schooling halfway
through a year.
It is therefore important to prepare for the commitment of paying school fees for the entire period your child will
be attending. This ensures there will be money available for them even if something tragic happens, such as a
loss of income or even a death. The best-case scenario is one in which your child's education isn't dependent on your earned income.
It is, in most cases, possible to significantly reduce the financial burden of school fees with professional advice
on planning strategies. SFIA can potentially save you tens of thousands on the cost of educating your children.
Planning early is preferred but certainly not essential. A significant number of parents approach us with children
who are about to start senior school, or are even older, and SFIA has still been able to help.
Financial Assistance
Often, you can receive financial assistance from the school in the form of scholarships or bursaries. These are
worth asking the institutions about directly. The Head or the Bursar of a school will be able to provide
information about any such grants, and whether or not you are eligible for them.
Scholarships
Often, you can receive financial assistance from the school in the form of scholarships or bursaries. These are
worth asking the institutions about directly. The Head or the Bursar of a school will be able to provide information
about any such grants, and whether or not you are eligible for them.
Scholarships
- Offered by many schools to attract bright pupils by helping their parents with the fees.
- Awarded as a result of competitive examination for academic, musical, artistic or all-round merit.
- They vary in value but rarely cover all the fees; these are sometimes ‘topped up’ by bursaries
on a means-tested basis
Bursaries
- A grant from the school to help parents pay the fees, awarded after a ‘means test’ of family income.
- Unlike a scholarship, they are not based on a competitive examination.
- They are often offered to children of the clergy, teachers, armed forces personnel or former pupils.
Single-parent families and orphans may also be eligible.
- Concessions for brothers and sisters of current or past students are often also available.
Government grants
The Ministry of Defense (MOD) gives grants to children of parents in all ranks of the armed forces in specific
circumstances. Further information can be obtained from Service Education Units or from the Children's Education
Advisory Service.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office gives grants to enable children of diplomats and other government servants
working abroad to attend boarding schools in Britain. Further information can be obtained from the
Diplomatic Service Families Association.
Some education authorities and social service departments also give grants to enable children who need to board to
go to boarding schools. You should apply to the director of education for the area in which you live.
Reasons commonly accepted for boarding need include because the parents are abroad or have to move home frequently,
because home circumstances are unhelpful to the child's development, because the child suffers from a disability
that makes boarding desirable or because the child lives in a remote part of the country and cannot easily travel each day to school.
Sources
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2429748/Boarding-school-fees-higher-average-wage-time-ever.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10324338/Boarding-school-fees-now-higher-than-average-salary.html