The School Fees Charitable Trust
The SFCT is funded by the SFS Group Life Insurance Scheme (formerly School Fees Trust Scheme), which insures a child's school fees against the death of a fee paying parent.
Guidelines for Parents/Guardians
General
The aim of the Trust is to assist those parents who, having selected private education for their child with reasonable expectations of being able to meet the considerable costs from their own resources, are unable to pay the fees as a result of genuine hardship, arising from an unforeseen change of circumstances.
Grants are made at the sole discretion of the Trustees, and their decision is final.
Conditions
- Grants are normally made to cover the final year of the GCSE course, the A1 and A2 years, or years of equivalent examinations (e.g. the International Baccalaureate, Standards and Higher). In exceptional circumstances, the Trustees may consider making a grant for a longer period.
- The maximum award granted will be 25% of the net fee after deduction of any other awards, e.g. from the school or other charitable trusts.
- The Trust will only consider applications where the school and the parents make a contribution to the fee.
- The Trust does not normally assist parents with children in state-funded boarding schools.
- The Trust will only normally consider applications where the change of circumstances has occurred within 12 months prior to the date of the application to the Trust.
- The Trust will not contribute to any arrears of fees that a parent may have at a school. It is only concerned with the future funding of school fees and how to make them more affordable for the legitimate claimant.
- If it is apparent from the parent's application form that there are arrears of fees, the Trust will seek an assurance from the school that any award made by the Trust will not be used to reduce this debt.
- Any communication with the Trust must be in writing and the Trustees will not enter into correspondence about the reason for any application being unsuccessful.
Other grant-awarding bodies
There are a number of other organisations that issue grants to students to enable them to continue to be educated through the private sector. For further information, please visit our useful links page
The difference our grants make
Julia
Julia lives with her mother who has Alzheimer's disease and is unable to work - her elderly father lives abroad. Julia's school environment, where she has many friends, brings her stability. The Charitable Trust awarded Julia £300 for 6 terms to enable her to complete her A-levels at her independent school.
Paul and John
Paul and John are twins. Their father died of cancer, leaving their mother to look after 5 children, one of whom has Downs Syndrome. The Charitable Trust awarded the twins £600 for 3 terms to enable them to complete their final year of A-levels.
Emma
Emma's father was made redundant and now all the family's savings have been used paying for school fees. Emma and her elder brother have been in private education since pre-preparatory. Emma was awarded £500 for 6 terms to help her through her GCSEs.
Jack
Both Jack's parents are registered disabled thus Jack often has to spend time at home looking after them. With the nearest state school located 6 miles from home, he asked for a grant to enable him to go to the local private school, only 5 minutes walk away. Jack was awarded £300 for 6 terms to help him complete his GCSEs at the local independent school and enable him to pop home during his breaks to check his parents are okay.
Claire
The Charitable Trust recently awarded a grant of £450 per term over 6 terms to a young student whose family were experiencing financial difficulties. Thanks to the grant, Claire was able to remain at school and continue her music studies, achieving distinctions in Grade 8 piano and trumpet.
Letters from families receiving support
“I am absolutely delighted to have been awarded a grant of £600 to assist with Sarah's fees. This is a tremendous weight off my mind. This generous contribution will certainly ease the enormous pressure. Please convey my most sincere thanks to the Trustees.”
“Thank you for your letter dated 10 July. It contained good news indeed and I am simply writing to say 'thank you' for the grant of £500 per term that has been awarded to Joanna. Please pass my thanks on to all those concerned.”
Letters from schools with students receiving support
“Thank you so much for your letter informing me that your Trust is able to fund Louise's school fees with a grant of £1000 per term for three terms. I am very grateful that you have been able to contribute in this way, as she really is one of our most deserving pupils.”
“On behalf of the school, I would like to express our gratitude to the Trustees for their grant of £600 a term for the next 3 terms to see Edward through to GCSE level. Thank you for your consideration and help for this worthy family.”
SFCT Sponsors the IAPS Orchestra Trust Music Concert
Since 1998 the SFCT has provided sponsorship to the IAPS Orchestra Trust and in 2005 began sponsoring the National School Symphony Orchestra.
For details about the courses and concerts organised by IAPS contact:
Graham Brown
5 Ashurst Place
High Street
Rainham
Kent
ME8 7JA
Tel: 01634 239886
Email: gh-brown@lineone.net
For details about the courses and concerts organised by NSSO, contact:
David Parker
113 Cranmer Court
London
SW3 3HE
Tel: 020 7584 2770
Email: davidlparkergl20@aol.com
You can also visit the websites at: www.iapsot.org and www.nsso.org
Who are the Trustees?
Noble Hanlon - Chairman
A Senior Partner of haysmacintyre and a Governor of Windlesham House School.
Charles Eglington
Retired Vice-Chairman of Warburg Securities and a Governor of Sherborne School and Twyford Prep.
Robin Reeve
Retired Headmaster of King's College School, Wimbledon and Chairman of Governors of Lancing College.
Martyn Gowar
Senior Partner of Lawrence Graham, Solicitors and Clerk to the Governors of Wellington College.
Cavan Taylor
Cavan is a retired Senior Partner of Lovells Solicitors, and is Chairman of the Governing Body of King's College School, Wimbledon.
June Taylor
Retired Headmistress of Sherborne School for Girls.