Scholarships & Bursaries
Bursaries
The School offers a number of means tested Bursaries every year to applicants at 11+, 13+ and Sixth Form. Bursaries will have a maximum value of 100% of the School Full Fee.
To apply for a bursary, please ask for a bursary application form in September. Families will need to pay a reduced non-refundable application fee of £25.00 alongside application. Following the results of the admissions examinations, families will be notified if they have been successful in securing a bursary place in March.
In assessing eligibility of the bursary, the school will request information on all relevant sources of income and relevant capital assets. This information will be asked for in the application form.
Applicants should note that subject to your capital assets, if your gross family income is below approximately £35,000 you may qualify for a full Bursary. If your gross family income is in excess of approximately £80,000 you would not qualify for any assistance. Between these two figures a sliding scale will operate. This scale is subject to annual review.
Once awarded, the entitlement to a Foundation Bursary will remain with a pupil throughout his or her time at the School and will be reviewed annually.
Academic Scholarships
A limited number of scholarships are available to entrants at age 11+ and 13+, valued at up to 10% of the fee per annum.
These will be awarded upon the results of the Admissions Examination. The scholarships are awarded at 11+ and 13+ and are tenable for one year. There is no need to apply for an academic scholarship as all applicants are automatically eligible.
Creative Scholarships
Creative Arts scholarships are available at 11+ in Music, Art and Drama and at 13+ in Music only. These are valued at up to 5% of the fee per annum and are tenable for three years (one year for the 13+ Music Scholarship). Candidates may apply for one Creative Arts scholarship only. The successful candidates would be expected, during the tenure of their award, to make an important and continuing contribution to the Creative Arts at the School.
Music Scholarships
The role of a King Edward VI Music Scholar is a very special one indeed. The Scholars Society meet twice a term to hear from professional musicians, discuss musical issues or debate. Candidate at 11+ should have achieved grade 5 standard on their first instrument (grade 6 for 13+).
For audition, candidates will be asked to play one prepared piece: alternatively, where two instruments are offered, one piece may be played on the candidate’s first instrument, the other on the second. Candidates will also be asked to play a piece of sight-reading on their first instrument and complete two short aural tests.
Drama Scholarships
The candidates on the shortlist will be invited to attend individual auditions and interviews and a group workshop. We will send you two audition pieces in early January from which your child should select one to learn and perform. Alternatively your child can perform a monologue of their own choosing of 1-3 minutes long. Auditions will take place in front of the Head of Drama, another member of the Drama Department and the other auditionees. In addition, each child will have a short, informal chat about their performance experience and their interest in Drama. The final session will be a whole group workshop in which the children may be asked to work on various games, improvisations and sketches together.
Art Scholarships
Candidates should prepare a portfolio of their own work. Candidates must display both a flair for, and an interest in, the subject. From the portfolios we receive, a shortlist of candidates will be drawn up and invited to attend a workshop.
The morning will consist of an interview with a member of the department where candidates will have the opportunity to discuss their work and interest in Art. There will be two set tasks where candidates can demonstrate their talents in observational drawing, imagination and three-dimensional skills.
Being an academic scholar at King Edward’s
Beyond the potential fee discount, students will be enrolled onto the Scholars’ Programme.
The Scholars’ programme aims for students who exhibit scholarly characteristics, namely consistent academic excellence; strong academic potential, intellectual curiosity and scholarly flair, i.e. an ‘edge’ or enthusiasm for learning that will mark them out as different to their peers. Scholarship is about more than hard work and attainment, with interest and aptitude at least as important in the mix of desirable qualities. The Scholarship programme is designed to support the enthusiasms and the high ability of the pupils involved, to challenge them to look beyond the syllabus, to forge links between their subjects and to consider how their school studies link into the wider world.
KES scholars are expected to be role models and leaders of the academic community at school, and the role requires a degree of responsibility in terms of attending events and completing some assignments in order to help them to do this.
In addition to all an ever-evolving calendar of events, scholars are encouraged to take advantage of the rich array of subject-specific extension and enrichment opportunities available at KES, from co-curricular study trips and relevant Clubs and Societies, through to outside speakers’ talks, essay competitions, student-run presentations and the like. All KES students are encouraged in their learning to ask reaching questions, to look beyond the immediate answer and to engage with extension activities within their lessons. There is much available at KES to ensure that even the most active and agile minds are stimulated and pushed.
