OPENING DOORS TO AN NLCS EDUCATION
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?
Bursaries are means-tested and designed to support families for whom an NLCS education would not otherwise be affordable. Awards may cover part or all of the fees, depending on each family’s circumstances.
Bursary applications are considered separately from the admissions process. Once a student has been successful in the entrance assessment and interview process, any bursary offer is based on a full financial assessment, including total family income, assets and wider financial circumstances.
As a guide, families with a total income below £40,000 and limited assets are likely to be considered for a 100% bursary. Families with an income above £150,000 are unlikely to receive fee assistance. Partial bursaries may be awarded to families whose circumstances fall between these figures. Most bursary awards are made to students joining from maintained schools, although exceptional circumstances may be considered.
To ensure the process is fair and consistent, each application is reviewed carefully and confidentially with our independent bursary assessment agency. This may include a home visit or telephone call.
Bursary awards can only be made where the School is satisfied that the fee-paying parent or parents are resident in the UK for tax purposes. A full financial assessment must be completed before any award can be made, and all awards are made at the School’s discretion.
Bursaries are funded through a combination of philanthropy, careful financial stewardship and income generated through the wider NLCS family of schools. Donations made through Giving Day, gifts from parents, grandparents and ONLs, and families who choose to donate their school deposit when they leave all help to support bursary places for future students.
There is no fixed number of bursary places each year. The number of awards depends on the level of financial need among successful applicants and the funding available. As a guide, around 1 in 10 students in the Senior School receive bursary support at any given time.
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.
Yes. Some students receive full remission of fees. In the most recent year, 66% of Senior School students receiving bursary support had a full bursary.
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.
No. A bursary is financial support. It is means-tested and exists to ensure that a student’s potential, rather than her family’s financial circumstances, determines whether she can take up a place at NLCS.
A scholarship recognises particular talent, promise or commitment. At NLCS, scholarships are awarded in areas such as music, sport and wider intellectual achievement. They are designed not simply to reward ability, but to help students develop it through mentoring, enrichment, performance, leadership and specialist support.
In some cases, a scholarship may include a reduction in fees. However, bursaries and scholarships are assessed separately. Families who require financial assistance should apply for a bursary, even if their daughter is also applying for a scholarship.
Apply for a bursary if your family needs financial support with fees. Apply for a scholarship if your daughter wishes to be considered for recognition in a particular area of talent or promise. Some families may apply for both.
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.
ONL Zoe Wong shares how receiving a bursary transformed her time at NLCS and shaped the path she’s taken since.
