Industry News
Scholarships can be a 'false economy'
Posted on 18th March 2008
The Good Schools Guide 2008 has warned parents that some scholarships offered by private schools could be as good as useless.
It revealed that increasing numbers of schools are awarding "honorary" scholarships, with no financial benefits, while others are offering scholarships that are only worth a few hundred pounds a year, which it cautioned is a "false economy".
The guide therefore recommends considering a school with lower fees
Many independent schools have stopped offering academic scholarships altogether and are instead focusing their attention on providing bursaries for children from poorer families.
The Charity Commission recently released guidelines that stated that unless schools did more to benefit children from disadvantaged backgrounds, they would lose their charity status and the accompanying tax benefits.
The guide does however suggest that there are ways that fee-paying parents can benefit from this system.
Some schools have unusual scholarship provisions that have been carried on out of tradition, such as the Licensed Victuallers' School in Ascot, which gives discounts to "children of parents working in the licensed drinks trade".
Children of single mothers, clergy and medics are all also sometimes eligible for scholarships or discounts.