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Secondary education

Would applying for a bursary undermine the chances of a scholarship?

5 replies

hardboiled · 22/11/2012 20:49

So my question is: If a school has a very able applicant who, lets say, could deserve a substantial combination of academic and music scholarships but they see that the parents have also asked for a bursary and indeed fulfill the financial requirements to receive one...Will the school then say, oh well he will be getting a bursary so no need to offer such a generous scholarship?
Scholarship: non means tested
Bursary: means tested

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LIZS · 22/11/2012 21:02

No you can be awarded one without the other though. Being able is relative so a scholarship may or may not be offered whereas a bursary would be reviewed on financial criteria and prioritised within other applicants who pass the exam.

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eatyourveg · 23/11/2012 08:56

ds1 had a music scholarship, an academic scholarship and a bursary - all held at the same time.

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hardboiled · 23/11/2012 10:02

Hello thanks, yes I know they can be held at the same time. I was just wondering if the amount of the scholarship will be smaller if the child is also applying for a bursary. The reason I am asking is that I have seen with my own eyes what a bursary means through friends who got them. They are always ambivalent about their income going up even slightly as they may then start paying fees, even if on their income it's still a struggle, and they are always making sure everyone knows, even their closest friends, how poor they still are! They also feel self-conscious and guilty if they take a holiday abroad or wear their new pair of boots to a school event, and of course fill endless papers every year etc. The schools of course need to be very strict and make sure the bursary is needed, but it can be a pact with the devil for a few years because it has the psychological effect on SOME parents of wanting to stay below the threshold for the time being. A scholarship, on the other hand, will hold as long as the child does well and will never change even if one's financial circumstances change.

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eatyourveg · 23/11/2012 11:29

In our school the size of the scholarship always relates to the score achieved in the scholarship exams. No idea if that is standard practice.

ds1's bursary was awarded in Y7 "for the time he is at XXX school". It wasn't ever reassessed for the whole 7 years he was there. That is however very unusual as far as I am aware.

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middleclassonbursary · 23/11/2012 11:33

Scholarships are usually a fixed amount ranging from nothing just the prestige factor through to 50% (increasingly rare) usually 5-10% or free music lessons sports coaching etc. What they are is usually clearly written on the individual's schools website.
Bursaries again vary from the school to school as dose the threshold. The key is how much money an individual school has in its bursary pot and how it wishes to distribute it. There is one very simple solution to all of this ask the bursar. Most are exceedingly helpful.
I'm not getting at you OP but I do get tired of hearing people moaning about searching questions/endless paper work. Our reduction will be pushing £100 000 over five years to get this I have to fill in quite a few forms seems pretty bloody reasonable to me. We have one cheap holiday abroad a year but as we work 55-70 hours a week the rest of the year I don't think the school begrudges us that. I don't shop in Aldi/primark or eat value baked beans everyday but we don't eat out all the time we drive old cars and have no assets saving etc. it's our decision I don't moan because I believe in what I'm doing!

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