Year 7 Application – Financial Assistance

How the financial support application process works to give clarity on the process.

1.Bursaries can only be applied for once the child has sat the Entrance Exam, had their interview and been offered a place in Year 7 2025, this is usually by the beginning of February.

The number of bursary requests for places always exceeds the financial support available, so unfortunately we do have to disappoint a number of families who request financial support. There are typically around 10 bursaries offered for Year 7 places, with around 40 applications received.   

2.Bursary Awards are made from limited resources and demand for these places is always more than the funding available, families must be aware and meet our Bursary conditions listed below and complete the checklist to be considered for financial assistance. 

Household Income Limit for applying for a bursary: The total gross household income, including all sources of income, must not exceed £80,000 per year. This includes, salaries, benefits, investment income, rental income from second properties and any other sources of income.  

Assets: The family must not hold substantial realisable equity in the applicant’s home and ownership or interest in other properties or assets, for example owning a second property/land holding other than the property in which the applicant child lives.

Parental Contribution: Both parents are expected to contribute towards school fees unless there are exceptional circumstances that prevent one parent from working or contributing to the fees. Consideration will be given to costs associated with other dependants and contributions to siblings’ fees at Woodhouse Grove School (but not other schools). 

Award Range: Bursaries typically cover 10% to 50% of the listed school fees. 

Financial Eligibility: The School may assess if a family’s lifestyle suggests they could adjust their expenses to accommodate school fees. This assessment could influence the family’s eligibility for bursary support.  The school may request a House visit to discuss further information.  

Exceptional Bursaries: Only two bursaries exceeding 50% are awarded annually to truly exceptional applicants, such as those who achieve the highest score in the Year 7 entrance examination. 

Family Contribution: All families receiving a bursary are expected to contribute towards the school fees; no 100% bursaries are awarded. 

Scholarships: Bursaries may be awarded in conjunction with scholarships, allowing for additional financial support for outstanding students. 

3. We assess all Year 7 applicants who have been offered a place at the school, who have requested financial assistance against our Bursary Criteria.   

Bursary Criteria:
Applicants must have shown an outstanding level of merit through the admissions process, namely in the Entrance Exam, Interview and report from the applicants’ current school. This includes any families applying from our Junior School, although an interview will not take place for current year 6 pupils.  Those who meet this criteria will be invited to submit a Bursary Application. 

4. Those who meet the Bursary criteria will be invited to submit a Bursary Application and will be sent a link to an online application. Please note the offer of a place in Year 7 doesn’t confirm that a bursary application can be submitted.  

If the Bursary criteria has not been met, a letter will be sent indicating that the Year 7 offer will be for a full fee-paying place only.

Awards will be made on a sliding scale according to the families’ financial circumstances at the time of application. 

5. Once the Bursary application has been submitted online you will receive one of the following outcomes: 

A bursary offer will be made which will outline the amount of financial assistance you have been awarded, this amount will be discounted off the fees per annum. The amount will be split equally over the 3 school terms.  

A bursary offer will not be made because your net household income and declared assets on your application form exceed our bursary threshold – household income (including all sources of income) above £80k. 

A bursary offer will not be made as the school is unable to provide a sufficiently substantial bursary to reduce the annual school fees to a level that would be realistically affordable given your declared financial information.  

ACTION – to register your request for a bursary, please complete our bursary checklist by clicking HERE 

If your child is offered a place and meets our Bursary criteria the deadline for Bursary Forms to be completed is Friday 14th February 2025.  

Brontë House Year 6 pupils requesting bursary support, who have completed our bursary checklist, will be contacted by the Finance team following the completion of the Entrance Exam.

Please note that a Year 7 offer does not confirm that you have met our bursary criteria.