New Bursary Assessments

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CHDad
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Re: New Bursary Assessments

Post by CHDad »

My sons 3rd term at Ch he did the same. Fourth term was a bit better and the 5th and 6th terms he really worked hard. So I wouldn't worry too much.
pinkhebe
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Re: New Bursary Assessments

Post by pinkhebe »

CHDad wrote:My sons 3rd term at Ch he did the same. Fourth term was a bit better and the 5th and 6th terms he really worked hard. So I wouldn't worry too much.
That's really good to hear, hopefully my ds will also follow that trend!
ailurophile
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Re: New Bursary Assessments

Post by ailurophile »

Pinkhebe wrote:

I swing from being blaise about the fees (we are remortgaging to pay them as there is no way we can afford them out of our limilted disposable income), to being in a blind panic about how we shall be able to afford to send ds to university
I was listening to an item on Radio 4 this morning about the unaffordability of privately rented accommodation, and I thought about this. It's difficult enough for CH parents who 'own' property (we too have had to extend our mortgage term in order to pay the fees); but what about the increasing demographic of middle income families who can't afford even to get a foot on the housing ladder and are trapped in a cycle of paying a huge percentage of their earnings in rent? Where can they turn if they need to juggle their outgoings?

Ironically, one of the side effects of unsecure housing is that families are often forced to move regularly - these are the very children who could benefit most from the stability of a boarding education.
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Re: New Bursary Assessments

Post by kerrensimmonds »

All this is terribly unhelpful to those of us who are Donation Governors, and who are waitng/longing to present a 'needy' pupil, whose parents may or not be able to afford to pay the means assessed fees which the school determines. But for those who are serious about wanting their child to go to CH it must be worth entering into dialogue beforehand with the Admissions Office over the fees which may/may not be levied, before putting the child forward? The Donation Governor eases admission (in return for the £xk they pay already and upfront to the Foundation). But if you are fortunate, and the child achieves admission, the named Donation Governor might be more generous? I have a friend who is the DG for a terribly needy child and she (the friend) has provided all the child's kit, clothes, technological equipment etc. etc. for the last three years - fetches and carries her at the start and end of every term, etc. No sure that most Donation Governors go that far, but I give this as an illustration of what can be achieved - maybe if the child's family builds up a good relationship with the Donation Governor.
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Re: New Bursary Assessments

Post by Volupturaptor »

I've been assuming that once a figure has been decided, that's that. It hadn't occurred to me that I could ask to be reassessed.
Does it ever do any good?

I think that our biggest problem with the system as it is, is that they decide what we are to pay this year, based on what we had coming in last year. Not only this, but the tax credit people also decide what to pay us this year, based on what we had coming in last year. Meaning that we are having an amount equivalent to my husband's pay rise taken away from us twice over, as the school have raised our contributions by that amount, at the same time as our tax credits have been reduced by the same amount.

I remember when we first started the application process, there was a a leaflet telling us all the things we could get help with, travel costs was one of them, does anyone know if this is still the case? It's never been mentioned to me, so I assumed we didn't qualify, but I'm wondering if it's a case of don't ask, don't get?
pinkhebe
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Re: New Bursary Assessments

Post by pinkhebe »

Due to my erratic work hours, I had a good year last year, but who's to say they'll be the same this year, that and the fact that the fact my tax credits have stopped due to the threshold being reduced, means it's a tough time here this year.
ailurophile
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Re: New Bursary Assessments

Post by ailurophile »

Volupturaptor wrote:
I think that our biggest problem with the system as it is, is that they decide what we are to pay this year, based on what we had coming in last year. Not only this, but the tax credit people also decide what to pay us this year, based on what we had coming in last year. Meaning that we are having an amount equivalent to my husband's pay rise taken away from us twice over, as the school have raised our contributions by that amount, at the same time as our tax credits have been reduced by the same amount.
I sympathise. Our contribution this year rose by rather more than the net increase in our household income. I contacted the Counting House and asked for details of the calculation (I wasn’t expecting a reassessment, of course, but simply an explanation!).

I am told the system 'works' like this. CH use a sliding scale to calculate parental contributions: the more you earn, the higher percentage of your net assessed income that they take, up to 40% of income where net earnings are £67000 (i.e. above that level everyone pays full fees.*

As a policy, this sounds perfectly rational. However, the calculation figures provided for our own contribution shows that in practice the scale can ‘slide’ very steeply. So for example, one year you have a net income of X and are required to pay 27% of this to the school; the next year you have a modest pay rise of £500 net, but this pushes you up the scale and you are charged 30% of this. Crucially, the higher percentage calculation is applied to your total net income and not just to the £500 rise; so where you were paying 27% of X, you now pay 30% of (X + 500), and the difference between the two contributions will be much greater than £500. The result of this is that you would be better off in real terms if you hadn’t had a pay rise!


*It does seem that parental contributions will be calculated completely differently for new entrants, for whom the published bursaries table indicates that a family with a net income as high as £76000 might now expect to receive a bursary worth 15% of the full fees!
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J.R.
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Re: New Bursary Assessments

Post by J.R. »

I would be intrigued to know how many pupils are/will be withdrawn from CH this year because of the increases.
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Re: New Bursary Assessments

Post by Volupturaptor »

J.R. wrote:I would be intrigued to know how many pupils are/will be withdrawn from CH this year because of the increases.
I think we all would...
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J.R.
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Re: New Bursary Assessments

Post by J.R. »

'Breath Holding' time, me-thinks !!
John Rutley. Prep B & Coleridge B. 1958-1963.
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