Bursaries & Scholarship
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Links: [Entrance Bursary] [Harvey Bursaries] [Academic] [Music & Art] [Supplementation]
Entrance Bursary Scheme: for entry in September of each year
The Perse has always done its best to ensure that children who would benefit from education here are not excluded for financial reasons. We offer a number of means-tested bursaries with financial support ranging from 5% to 100% of a full fee. In the last financial year the school provided nearly £400,000 of bursary support.
Parents wishing to be considered for such places should please return the relevant forms in the prospectus to the Head's PA as soon as possible and before the 1st January in the year of entry; she will pass the forms over to the Bursar’s Office which will deal with all further enquiries about them. It may be helpful to know that the Bursar’s Office will need a detailed means-test form returned by the date when the Entrance Test takes place.
Bursary places for current year entry may be awarded to a number of pupils at 11+, 13+ and 16+. Awards will normally be made through the normal entrance test arrangements up to 13+, and by interview and GCSE grade requirements for the Sixth Form. The School regrets that at present it cannot guarantee that any bursaries awarded at 7+ to pupils entering the Preparatory School will be carried through beyond 11+ and into the Upper School, although parents may re-apply when their child is in the final year at The Prep School.
All applications for Bursary places are assessed on a means-tested basis and will include an interview at the School. There are no residence qualifications; however family situations - including the number of school-aged children, the financial circumstances of both parents, and of any current partner of one or both parents - will be taken into account, along with social security benefits and other financial details. These will include both capital and current income. Any awards made for the current year will be subject to annual means testing thereafter.
As a very rough guide, combined family incomes of much more than £50,000 with one school-aged child, are unlikely to qualify for Bursary help. The School will operate a sliding scale below this limit which it reserves the right to vary in special cases, but all awards are at the absolute discretion of the School. The number of awards which can be made each year is limited. The Deputy Bursar can provide guidance in individual cases.
Please note that it is a conditional of all scholarships and Bursary awards that candidates then withdraw applications to any other schools unless the Head agrees in writing to waive the requirement. Failure to comply will be likely to lead to the withdrawal of the award here. We feel that we must insist on this out of fairness to those on the waiting list.
Harvey Bursaries in Science/Engineering: for September of each year
Calling young people of scientific and technological skills and interests….
What we are trying to do
Thanks to a Cambridge businessman’s generosity we can offer a number of bursaries (and, in exceptional cases, scholarships) to pupils of any age entering the School. (Scholarships are for people who do exceptionally well in our selection tests; bursaries are to help people who do well, and whose parents’ finances mean that they could not otherwise think of private education. It is possible to have a scholarship and a bursary at the same time).
If we have far more candidates for awards than funding available, we shall give preference to those who need bursaries in order to be able to join the School. We hope however that this will not deter would-be scholars from applying…
We want to find talented boys aged 11 or 13, and boys and girls aged 16, to join the School in September of each year.
The people we are looking for
- will be from a state sector primary or secondary school (although we can occasionally consider exceptional cases from elsewhere, and people of different ages)
- will be able to show leadership and brainpower skills in a particular area of science or technology or possibly in a similar field
- will be interested in scientific issues – especially practical ones
- will show initiative and determination to succeed rather than just being clever
- will seem as if they would get a lot out of being at the School
- will probably not be able to come to the School without financial help
How we choose people:-
If you are a boy wanting to come at the age of 11 or 13
You need to sit our Entrance Test on the last Saturday in January like everyone else, but you will be given a special interview – possibly on the Friday immediately before the Entrance Test (the last Friday in January). You are welcome to bring something that you have made, or something else of your own, to talk about to the people you meet. You may also be asked to do a few problem solving exercises either on the day of the test or during a separate visit near to that date.
If you are a boy or girl wanting to come after GCSEs
You should be hoping realistically for A* or A grades in at least half of your GCSE subjects, and a good report from your present school. You will be asked
o to do a verbal reasoning test
o to have some interviews
o to do some problem-solving exercises connected with Science/Engineering Technology. You won’t need detailed knowledge for these, so (for example) if you aren't taking GCSE Technology you are still welcome to apply along with everyone else.
How to apply
Your parents should please fill in the registration form in the prospectus in the normal way, returning it to the School as soon as possible, and not later than the 1st January in the year of entry.. It will help us to decide how to assess your skills if you (or your parents) can include any special information about your educational background, interests or achievements – in a letter to the Head.
We shall ask your parents to provide confidential information of all Harvey applicants about their finances on a special form. The value of the awards will depend on this information. We normally make this a percentage of the School’s yearly fee, and it will be worked out again each year, to keep in step with your parents’ changing levels of income.
We shall also contact your present school for a report during the second half of January, and will let you know exactly how we are going to organize the day of the Entrance Test. This may depend on how many people we have to see.
We hope to be able to let you know whether or not you have been successful by mid-February, probably at the start of the Spring Term half-term break. If you want to join the Sixth Form, your place will depend on achievement of the total points score mentioned elsewhere in this booklet.
Sixth Formers and beyond: what we hope for later on
Once you enter the Sixth Form you will be expected to take at least four AS level subjects in the Lower Sixth, probably mostly in Maths/Science/Technology. However the award of a bursary won’t mean that you have to apply for a university course in one of these subjects.
We also hope that if you win an award you will stay at the Perse until the age of 18. Your award will depend on your continuing to work well. Stopping scholarships or bursaries because of poor work is very rare and would take place only after warnings, and after meetings with you and your parents.
We hope that you will be able to act as a mentor (or guide/leader) for someone winning an award in future years – and that if, one day, you find yourself able to give money to a similar educational scheme, you will do so. Above all the businessman who has given us the money for these awards hopes that you will go on later to be a leader in some field of science/technology/engineering
If you or your parents have any questions about the School or about these awards, please let us know.
Academic, Music and Art Scholarships
(for candidates to enter the Upper School in September of each year)
At 16+ academic, art and music scholarships, and other awards, are available. Full details are available in the sixth form prospectus.
At 11+ and 13+, academic and music (but not art) scholarships are available at a value of up to 10% of the fees for boys from any type of school. Academic scholarships will be awarded on the basis of performance in the annual entrance test held on the last Saturday in January of each year. No letter of application is required unless otherwise stated. The School makes awards only if candidates of sufficient merit apply, and will withdraw an award in extreme circumstances if a candidate subsequently fails to justify it.
Music scholarships
Potential music scholars will be expected to pass the Entrance Test and to satisfy the other requirements of 11+ and 13+ entrants (e.g. a satisfactory reference from a boy's present school). They will also be given music auditions in the days immediately before it, by arrangement with the Director of Music (who will be happy to meet parents and candidates informally beforehand). The audition will be on a candidate's main instrument (and a second instrument if he has one). Singing may be offered, either as a main or secondary component. There will also be a sight-reading exercise and an aural test. 11+ candidates will probably have Grade 4 or higher on at least one instrument, and 13+ candidates will have reached at least Grade 5. The School is however looking for future potential rather than current achievement, and will take previous musical opportunities (or lack of them) into account when assessing a candidate, so those with fewer or no formal qualifications should not feel automatically excluded. The School may also offer one or more Music Exhibitions, consisting of free instrumental tuition on one or more instruments (and/or singing coaching).
Music scholars will be expected to join in as many of the School’s musical activities as possible long-term - including those which take place on Saturdays. It is our normal expectation that they will learn at least one instrument in school rather than outside. Parents are asked to discuss any potential clashes with musical commitments outside school, and any concerns about instrumental teaching requirements, with the Director of Music in advance of the scholarship auditions.
Parents of potential music scholars from schools other than our own Preparatory School should apply on the normal application form in the prospectus. They are requested to send with it a letter or statement outlining their son’s musical achievements to date (including any exams passed) and the component(s) being offered at audition. Parents of Perse Preparatory School candidates should please write to Mr Gavin Richards, Director of Music at the Upper School.
Bursary supplementation
All scholarships are eligible for Bursary supplementation on a means-tested basis. Parents of would-be scholars who think they will need, and will qualify for, Bursary assistance are encouraged to contact the School ahead of the Entrance Test.