11+ & 13+ Entry
Level the playing field
I have detailed below some of the awards available, this is not an exhaustive list. Remember to check if bursaries are available when enquiring at a school or educational institution, as they are often available but not always advertised.
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse is dedicated to supporting access and enabling potential for students from diverse backgrounds. They have provided financial support for over 400 years, ensuring that talented students can afford their education regardless of their financial circumstances.
Bursaries are means-tested and awarded based on the family's financial needs, allowing students to thrive in a supportive environment. This commitment to inclusivity opens doors to life-changing opportunities, shaping future leaders and thinkers.
Christ's Hospital
Christ’s Hospital is committed to providing an outstanding education to bright and ambitious students from a wide range of social and financial backgrounds. Means-tested financial support, may cover up to 100% of the school fees.
Eton College - King's Scholarship
Based on academic ability for boys entering the School at age 13. Around 14 are awarded each year. The King’s Scholarship examination is designed to find the most able candidates, it is intentionally very demanding. Bursaries can be applied for separately.
Eton College - Rokos Scholarship
Boys who are outstanding academically, who have been educated in the UK state system at primary level and who need financial assistance to attend Eton can be considered for the Rokos Scholarship.
Harrow School - Year 7 & Year 9 Awards
Year 7
Boys at their local primary school are eligible to apply for a Year 7 Award. Typically, Year 7 Awards are made to individuals who would need 100% (or close to 100% fee support) in order to attend Harrow School from Years 9 to 13. It also covers the school fees to attend a prep school for Years 7 and 8. All bursaries are means tested.
Year 9 candidates can apply for a means-tested bursary, which can cover up to 100% of the School fees. In addition to means-tested bursaries, specific Year 9 awards include:
-
The HJ Flower and H Gower Award, for very strong candidates who are the sons of serving members of the British armed forces; and
-
The Derek Kelsey and Richard Lister-Buttle Awards, for very strong candidates who are the sons of Old Harrovians.
Manchester Grammar School
Over 200 pupils currently receive full or partial bursaries, with the vast majority being full. Bursary places are available for boys joining Year 7 and the Sixth Form, with the majority of funding being offered for entry in Year 7, and are only offered to families who are permanently resident in the UK, and living the North West of England, at the point of application.
Fee assistance is based on the total gross income of the household in which the pupil lives and will be on a sliding scale such that parents in receipt of assessable income in excess of £58,500 will receive no assistance for the 2025/26 academic year, whilst those with income of £32,500 or below will receive full remission of fees.
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is committed to providing financial assistance in the form of bursaries to any child with potential, who could not otherwise afford a Marlborough education, and to deliver the best co-educational boarding school experience in both academic and co-curricular areas.
Bursaries are available for eligible families applying for entry to the College at both 13+ and 16+. Depending on family circumstances, a bursarial award can cover between 5% and 100% of fees, plus additional amounts towards extras such as IT equipment, academic trips, travel costs and uniform.
Radley College
Generous financial awards programmes bring the best and most deserving boys to Radley. Awards can be made at 11+, 13+ and 16+ (Years 7, 9, 12). The strongest candidates will be guaranteed funding when they receive their unconditional offer. Some awards are dependent on successfully securing one of six scholarships (Academic, Art, Drama, Innovation, Music or Sport).
Rugby School
If candidates are successful in being awarded a scholarship, fee assistance can be obtained up to the value of 100%, by completing a means-tested bursary application.
Awards are also available at the Head Master’s discretion, where we identify exceptional potential.
For further details, please contact: Email: admissions@rugbyschool.co.uk
St Paul's School - Founder's Award
St Paul’s School continues to stay true to its founder John Colet’s original vision, to provide an education ‘for one hundred and fifty three boys of all nacions and countres indifferently to be taught free.’
The bursary programme (known as Founder’s Awards) at St Paul’s remains at the heart of the school community, with everyone benefitting from a student body comprising boys from a wide variety of backgrounds. An education at St Paul’s gives all pupils the opportunity to thrive and achieve their potential, in and out of the classroom.
St Paul's Girls' School
The aim of the bursary programme is to make a St Paul’s education affordable and accessible through the provision of needs-based financial support. A bursary is a means-tested award and is determined by the family’s financial situation. Each bursary is considered on a case-by-case basis and will take into account income, realisable assets and other relevant factors. The level of assistance provided depends on individual circumstances and varies from partial bursaries to full bursaries, where the maximum value awarded is the full published fees. Bursaries are offered for students joining us at both 11+ and 16+, although the number of bursaries available each year is at the discretion of the school and will vary.
Westminster School
Westminster offers a variety of Academic and Music Scholarships, which are awarded on a strictly competitive basis and parental income is not taken into account. The School also has a system of means-tested bursaries, which enables us to offer free places or places at reduced fees to boys and girls who do well in our entrance exams but whose parents cannot afford the full fees.
Winchester College
Winchester college was established to provide an education for those with the intellectual spark and curiosity to take advantage of everything the school had to offer - regardless of their financial position. That is what they continue to look for in their applicants. Winchester has one of the most generous bursary programmes in the country with more than 140 pupils currently receiving financial support. They remain committed to tackling inequality of access and each year welcome pupils from a wide range of cultural, socio-economic backgrounds.
Wycombe Abbey
Wycombe Abbey aims to be accessible to possible girls whose parents could not otherwise afford to meet the full cost of fees by offering means-tested Bursaries.
If you would like to find out more about bursaries, please call the Director of Admissions, Ms Laura Chell on (+44) (0) 1494 897008.
Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation
Supporting young people to access the care and education that helps them thrive. We widen access to the opportunities available in state boarding and independent schools for young people with care experience and those facing barriers to opportunity.