OPENING THE SCHOOL GATES
Peter Ranscombe explores the ways in which schools are helping to give families the chance to benefit from an independent education
Schools are helping more families benefit from an independent education
Scotland’s independent schools are coming up with innovative ways to open their gates to pupils from a broad range of backgrounds. Bursaries and scholarships lie at the heart of many institutions’ efforts to widen access.
In the spring, the Edinburgh preparatory school Cargilfield will begin a process to select a group of eight- and nine-year-olds who will receive bursaries to fund places at the school. Head teacher Rob Taylor plans to write to his colleagues at primary schools to spread the word about the bursaries, as well as launching a marketing campaign.
While the school has always offered bursaries, Taylor wants to increase the number of applications he receives for the financial support towards fees. As well as supporting children’s academic performance, he wants pupils to benefit from the wide range of activities at his school, from sports and music through to debating and computer coding.
‘We plan to make those bursaries significant, so they offer life-changing opportunities,’ explains Taylor. ‘We want to give the bursaries to the children who we think have the potential to benefit from opportunities they might not otherwise have had – the small classes, the more intensive teaching, the broader range of subjects, and the chance to study subjects to a higher level.’
As a standalone junior school which will mark its 150th anniversary in 2023, Cargilfield has strong links with senior schools in Scotland and throughout the UK. Taylor wants to select pupils for the bursaries who he believes his school can nurture, so that they can go on to win bursaries at senior schools too.
‘I don’t like the idea of starting a family on a journey into an independent school education if we can’t help them to continue that journey,’ he says. ‘The process of gaining scholarships for senior schools can become quite competitive, so our approach is to make sure we have children who we are confident we can keep going within the independent school system and offer them similar opportunities at the senior end.
‘Our assessment will target those families who have the greatest need, where financially there’s no way they could consider an independent school, and particularly those children who have potential in certain areas that we can develop and that senior schools will be keen to offer subsequent bursaries. We are looking to target families where that need is significant, not where they’re just a bit short of paying the fees.’
Widening access to education is a topic that’s close to Taylor’s heart; he attended state schools and was the first member of his family to go to university. His parents recognised the value of education and he hopes Cargilfield’s bursaries will appeal to other families for whom education is important.
Before joining Cargilfield, Taylor was in charge of admissions at Harrow School in London. He also oversaw the Peter Beckwith Scholarship Fund, which was set up by a former pupil to pay for two boys each year to go from a state primary to a prep school for two years and then on to Harrow.
‘That experience motivated me,’ Taylor explains. ‘When I came to Scotland, I wanted to offer more opportunities for families to access an independent school education.’
Merchiston Castle, a boys’ school in Edinburgh, recently introduced a sixth form award, and was holding assessments at the end of January.
The new award provides meanstested financial assistance of up to 75% of annual fees for a day place and a boarding place for September 2021 entry.
‘In these difficult times, we are delighted to be offering this
“
I wanted to offer more opportunities for families to access an independent school education
award, which aims to prevent affordability being a barrier to learning,’ says head teacher Jonathan Anderson. ‘Merchiston provides a world-class, global, outward-looking education in a connected community where every individual matters.
‘The sixth form is designed to bridge the gap between sixth form and the next step into adulthood and is the ideal preparation for university. We hope that, through supporting boys from households that fulfil our means-testing criteria, we will be able to provide a transformative experience that helps them fulfil their potential and achieve their life ambitions.’
During the 2018-19 academic year, 147 pupils or 33.9% of Merchiston’s roll received a bursary or other fee remission, which included two pupils receiving support from the Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation, John Watson’s Trust, and The Emmott Foundation. Four pupils received an Education Maintenance Allowance.
The value of means-tested bursaries awarded in 2018-19 amounted to £1.13 million, which was 9.2% of the school’s gross fee income. Other forms of non-means tested assistance were also awarded during the academic year, including sibling and staff discounts – in total, those awards amounted to £514,000 or 4.2% of gross fee income.
As well as financial help for enrolment, some Scottish schools also offer scholarships linked to support for specific subjects and activities. Introduced in 2017, the Tom Morris Scholarship at St Leonards School in St Andrews, Fife, recognises ‘talent, achievement, and dedication to the game of golf’.
The Tom Morris scholar is enrolled automatically onto the school’s high-performance squad, the top level of its five-tier golf programme, which is delivered in conjunction with the St Andrews Links Trust. The golf programme is led by Fintan Bonner, St Leonards’ director of golf and senior links instructor.
This year’s recipient is sixth form pupil Daniel Bullen. ‘I applied for the Tom Morris scholarship because I think that there is no better place to improve your golf in Scotland than St Andrews,’ explains Bullen.
‘The courses and facilities are phenomenal, and the coaches are world-class. St Leonards’ relationship with the Links Trust is very important to me, as I am now able to practise and play whenever I have free time.’
The first recipient of the scholarship was Ben Caton, who went on to be awarded a golf scholarship at Houston Baptist University in the United States, following in the footsteps of golfing legend Colin Montgomerie. Caton took first place at last year’s [2020] Royal & Ancient’s Local Clubs’ Gold Medal Competition, with a 36-hole aggregate scratch score of 134.
John Edward, director of the Scottish Council of Independent Schools (SCIS), explains that offering bursaries is very important to educational institutions. ‘Schools’ commitment to means-tested bursaries is central to who they are, and part of a two-fold commitment,’ he says.
‘The first is the founding principles of schools which sought to advance education as far and as wide as possible. This has been bolstered in recent years by the creation of the specific charity test for Scottish independent schools, which requires fee assistance to allow entry to families of all means. Bursary provision is at the core of their purpose.’
Financial support not only helps individuals but also brings broader benefits. Edward says bursaries have a positive effect on wider school communities by bringing together children from a mix of backgrounds.
‘By widening access to schools, their teaching and
“
I wanted to offer more opportunities for families to access an independent school education
their resources, children of mixed backgrounds and interests learn to learn and develop together,’ he says. ‘In addition, they support families with particular challenges such as carers or bereaved, service families, and families facing hardship.’
Edward also highlights the benefits gained by being educated at an independent school. ‘SCIS stresses three qualities – choice, diversity, and excellence,’ he adds.
‘Choice in school size, ethos, gender or residential status; as well as academic and extra-curricular breadth at all ages. Diversity both in terms of the pupil and teacher body, but also in terms of the curriculum used, the subjects chosen, and the exams taken.
‘Excellence in all aspects of education and directed at all pupils individually – offering them excellent teaching and learning resources, creative arts and sports facilities, and individual learning tailored to pupils’ specific needs and interests.
‘Most of all, attending such a school in Scotland gives a safe and secure learning environment in a country where the outdoors is as important as the classroom.’
For a list of bursaries and scholarships, go online and visit bit.ly/sf-schools