THINK a £63,000 a year education is only for super-rich kids? Think again.

In fact, mega-bucks schools like Eton College, which charges over £21,000 a term, open their doors to thousands of students from ordinary families.

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Their bursaries and scholarships mean children whose families may struggle to put food on the table can learn alongside those born with a silver spoon in their mouth.

Although the average fees for a senior boarding school were nearly £14,000 a term, or almost £6,500 at a day school, before VAT was added in January, nearly 30% of all private schools pupils – 160,000 youngsters -  get some help from the school with fees. 

Around 9,300 pupils pay no fees at all, according to the Independent Schools Council’s 2024 census. 

While scholarships can reduce fees if your child is a sports star, music maestro or brainbox, a bursary is often worth more.

They’re given to kids who are clever enough to make the grade, but where families may struggle to pay the bill.

Grace Moody-Stuart, Director at The Good Schools Guide, says: “Bursaries can be worth as much as 110%, with the fees paid and extra given for books, uniform and other costs.”

At world famous Eton College, which has fees of nearly £65,000 a year with the new VAT increase and where Princes William and Harry went, 265 boys received fee reductions in 2022-23 with 105 paying no fees at all.

The average award was nearly 70% of the fees.

To get bursaries at thousands of private schools up and down the country, kids usually have to take an exam to show they’re clever enough.

Families also have to share their financial details with the school.

Grace says: “Schools can struggle to find the right people for their bursaries, so if you have a child who you think would thrive in that kind of environment, go ahead and ask.”

But finding the right school is crucial.

“However wonderful the facilities are, you have to feel comfortable that your child will fit in, " she adds.

“All schools have their own personalities, so looking around and getting that ‘feeling’ about whether it is the right or wrong school is vital.

"Unless you have a particular school in mind, start with those that are local to you.

"If they have a passion for something, like drama or sport, and the school is good for that, they will probably shine."

If you want to find out about bursaries for your child, give yourself plenty of time.

Start looking on a site like Good School’s Guide to get an idea of where your child could go.

Grace says: “For scholarships and bursaries awarded when the child is 11, start looking into it when the child is seven or eight.”

You must also meet the strict deadlines for applications and send supporting paperwork which may include bank statements and housing costs.

Another round of bursaries is often offered for sixth form. Some of the big boarding schools start from age 13.

Since January, VAT has been added to school fees.

Instead of passing that completely on to parents, many schools are trying to absorb some of these costs themselves.

'We jumped for joy when I got in'

It was one of the teachers at Kiijon Brown’s Sheffield comprehensive who suggested he apply for Eton College's Orwell Award – a sixth form programme aimed at boys at state schools, which covers all the fees.

Kiijon, 18 (pictured above right), says: “I was head boy at my school, but wasn’t a straight A student. I was confident and chatty and tried to work hard, and I did things like volunteering at a youth club and coaching basketball.

“I think Eton looks for that all-rounder – someone who wants to get involved and do well.”

Kiijon, who has three siblings and has also been a young carer for his mum Selena, went through a day of interviews and exams before getting offered a place at the famous school, attended by royals and Prime Ministers.

“My mum was so excited, not necessarily because I was going to Eton, but because I tried hard for something and succeeded.

“She had tears when she told me. She showed me the email and we just jumped for joy.”

When he started boarding in September 2023, studying A Levels in ancient history, English literature and drama, the other students helped him find his feet.

“Everyone was really kind – they knew I was out of my comfort zone.

"A few days in, I thought ‘What have I done?’ but it’s been the best thing. Now I try to help others like me when they come to the school.”

At the start he says he felt like he was ‘living two different lives’ between the elite college and his life back home in the Steel City.

But he’s kept up with his old schoolmates and some have visited him at Eton.

It was daunting to start with, he admits, but says: “You have to be the kind of person who’s not afraid to push outside your comfort zone.”

Now planning to study English Literature at university, Kiijon has discovered a love of acting at Eton.

“The facilities are out of this world – it’s insane."

Thanks to the school, he travelled to Ghana last summer to coach basketball.

He also joins old Etonians Prince William and actor Eddie Redmayne as one of the school’s senior prefects – an elite group of students voted for by staff and pupils recognising leadership, kindness and courage.

He said: “If I hadn’t gone to Eton, I would have gone to sixth form in my local school. But I feel a whole new world has opened up.

"If anyone gets a chance like this, they should grab it with both hands."

That is likely to have an impact on the amount of funding available, especially as current pupils’ families may need more help to meet the fees.

But bursaries will hopefully be there for those that need them most.

Grace says: "Private school education is more expensive than it used to be and is increasingly unobtainable.

"Schools want to keep some kind of normality.

“They recognise that it's not healthy for children to be brought up in a super-privileged bubble."

What the top schools offer

If you like the idea of a private education, this is a taster of what some schools offer:

Eton College

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To attend the same school as Princes William and Harry as well as a string of Prime Ministers, families need to stump up more than £21,000 per term.

But others can share in its success with 265 boys paying reduced fees in 2022-23 and 105 of them paying no fees at all.  

On average the bursaries were worth nearly 70% of fees, assessed case by case.

The Orwell Award is a sixth form programme that offers fully funded places to boys at a UK state school whose academic achievement may have been held back by personal circumstances.

For boys entering in year nine, age 13, parents start completing forms towards the end of year five.

Christ’s Hospital

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Christ’s Hospital, independent school of the year in 2024, was founded by Edward VI to educate and care for poor and orphaned children and gives out the most bursaries of any UK school.

This academic year, of the West Sussex school’s 857 students, 665 received bursaries, with nearly 300 of them worth at least 90% of the fees. 

Boarding fees are around £15,000 a term or up to £10,000 for day students.

Families need to apply to Christ’s Hospital by September 12 2025 for a means-tested bursary in September 2026, or by October 27 for sixth form.

Radley College

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The Oxfordshire boys’ boarding school has great facilities, strong results and a close community, costing fee-paying families £19,200 a term.

It tries to attract "talented and ambitious" state school students with The Radley College’s Keys Award - holders pay no fees and the school funds extras like uniform and music lessons.

This year, Radley offered five Keys Awards at age 11 and five at 16.

It looks for "engaged and engaging, creative and resilient" students. Families apply by October of year six.

Currently, 128 boys get some kind of funding, with 25 at the school with fully-funded places.

Gordonstoun

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King Charles’ former school near Elgin, Scotland, helps just over a third of students with fees - around £19,000 for boarders and £13,500 for day pupils.

It was a principle of the school’s founder Kurt Hahn.

He said that no school "can build up a tradition of self-discipline and vigorous but joyous endeavour" unless at least 30% of children are from less privileged backgrounds.

Currently 34% get help with fees – around 175 pupils.

All bursaries are means tested, with some awards as high as 110% for families who also need help  with travel and uniform costs.

Latymer Upper School

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With 1,400 boys and girls aged 11 to 18, fees for those in the west London senior school are currently around £10,000 a term.

Counting actor Alan Rickman and model Lily Cole among former pupils, it offers one in four of its students – more than 300 of them - financial help.

Bursaries range from 25 to 100% of the academic fees and are considered case by case.

The school, founded in 1624 when lawyer Edward Latymer left money for the education of local "poore boyes", is hot on "social inclusivity".

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