more applications than we can satisfy. We therefore have to decide whom we can support and whom we are going to have to disappoint. A committee comprising the Headmaster, Registrar and me, as Bursar, makes these difficult decisions. We work in close consultation with Housemasters and seek to identify those children who are most likely to take the best possible advantage of what the school has to offer. Before Christmas we assessed applications for those hoping to enter the school in September 2019. There were 38 applications. We were able to make awards to 25; we judged that four had sufficient resources to be outside the eligibility criteria, but awards could not be made to nine families who would have been eligible for support if funding had allowed. To be fair to everyone, we ask all parents of a particular cohort to apply at the same time. For example, when we offer provisional places to those wishing to join the first year two years in advance, we ask those parents who need a bursary to submit their applications at that time. So those entering in September 2019 are assessed in autumn 2017. This allows the school to allocate the bursary funds available having understood the demand for the year and assessed all applicants at the same time using a common process. We adopt a similar approach for other points of entry such as those seeking either a scholarship through Election or a Music Award or admission into the sixth form. All applicants then have to submit a Bursary Application form. This is not to be undertaken lightly. It stretches to 24 pages, is designed to be searching and asks for extensive details of the family’ s circumstances: family finances, including income and expenditure, and assets and liabilities, including opportunities to release capital from savings and investments, second homes and buy-to-lets and other realisable assets, and equity in houses; the size of their family and any other persons dependent upon them; the level of support required; the reasons why a bursary is needed and the measures the family has taken to find alternative sources of funding, including from other family members. The form must be accompanied by documentary evidence. In a perfect world I would personally visit every parent at home, but time does not allow. Every parent resident in Britain should expect to receive a home visit by a representative of the school. This may be a current or former member of staff. This year for the first time we have been using an outside not-for-profit organisation that has considerable experience of making such visits on behalf of a large number of schools. Not only are they independent but they also bring a wider perspective, having a familiarity with the approach taken by our peers that is hard for a bursar to come by under OFT competition rules. I try to meet those living abroad in Winchester wherever possible. The size of a child’ s bursary is determined on the basis of need, according to a sliding scale, which sets out award levels in relation to a family’ s financial circumstances. Though awards are generally tied to this scale, each case is assessed on its own merits and may be varied depending on individual parents’ circumstances, as well as compassionate or other considerations. To put this in context, families with gross income of £ 40,000 or less and without significant assets are likely to be eligible for a 100 % bursary. When assessing whether to give support, the boy’ s suitability for the school is a key factor. Every boy we consider has already been offered a place in the school, so meets our academic requirements. We are looking for more: each boy must not only perform well academically, but must also be likely to benefit from participation in the wider extra-curricular activities on offer at the school, and to play a full part in its day-to-day life. Bursary funds are limited and those judged most suitable will be given priority. Preference will also usually be given to Scholars and holders of Music, Sports and other similar awards. All bursaries are conditional on good conduct and continuing good performance by the recipient. They are reviewed annually and are subject to repeat testing of parents’ means. Particular attention will be paid as a pupil moves from the lower school to the sixth form. Bursaries may be( and are) varied upwards or downwards, or even withdrawn altogether if parents’ circumstances change. However, a bursary represents a long-term commitment on the part of both the school and the parents, and once a bursary has been awarded, the expectation is that the level of award will not vary from year to year, provided that the parents’ financial circumstances do not change.
The Wykeham Journal 2017 13