ASSISTANCE WITH SCHOOL FEES
Since 1850, North London Collegiate School has offered bursaries to students who we believe will thrive here, regardless of their family’s financial circumstances. These are available to pupils joining the Senior School at 11+ or 16+.
Bursaries ensure that a child’s potential—not their background—determines their opportunity. Awards can cover up to 100% of school fees and may also include support for lunches, coach transport (50% off fares), uniform, essential curriculum materials, exam fees, and compulsory school trips.
At present, 78 students at NLCS receive financial assistance through our bursary programme.
Please note: bursary applications are assessed independently by the Bursary Administration Agency (BAA), and have no influence on the School’s admissions decisions.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR A BURSARY?
Assuming a child is successful in the entrance exam and interview process, offers of a bursary are based on the total family income and other assets. As a guide, if your total family income is below £40,000 and you have limited assets, you are likely to receive a 100% bursary. If your family income is above £150,000 you are unlikely to receive any fee assistance. Partial bursaries may be offered between these figures. Most awards of bursaries are made to candidates from maintained schools, but in exceptional circumstances, we may make exceptions to this.
We consider each application carefully with our third-party agency, and this will include a home visit or telephone call.
Awards will only be available to girls when the School is satisfied the fee-paying parent(s) are resident in the UK for tax purposes. It is not possible for us to make an award without carrying out the financial assessment. All awards are made at the School’s discretion.
Yes. Your daughter has to be considered for a place on academic merit and interview performance before being considered for a bursary. Those marking the tests and carrying out the interviews will not know which candidates have applied for a bursary. Therefore, our academic selection process is separate from our bursary process, so if your child meets our academic standards, she will still be offered a place, regardless of being awarded a bursary.
No. If your child meets our academic standards, she will be offered a place, regardless of her financial circumstances. If your daughter is offered a place, her academic performance in the examination will have no impact on the size of bursary that is awarded.
We review bursaries annually, but these will be continued at the same level if there are no material changes in financial circumstances.
If there are changes in circumstances, bursary awards may be varied upwards or downwards.
We judge each application carefully, considering:
• all sources of income;
• all outgoings;
• all assets (e.g. property, savings, shares);
• all liabilities (e.g. mortgage, arrears, loans);
• any other circumstances that you tell us about or that we consider relevant.
BURSARY APPLICATIONS
11+ Entry: Deadline for bursary applications for 2026 entry:
11+ Entry – 14 November 2025
16+ Entry: Deadline for bursary applications for 2026 entry:
16+ Entry – 10 October 2025
Once you have submitted our registration form and registration fee payment you will receive a confirmation e-mail with a link to the bursary application form.
We will inform you of the outcome of your bursary application if your child is offered a place.
ONL Zoe Wong shares how receiving a bursary transformed her time at NLCS and shaped the path she’s taken since.
