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Bursary in UK

Hello everyone,

My name is Mary, I live with my family in Mexico. My daughter is 16 years old, she was applying for a Sixth form College in UK. Actually from the beginning I didn't have much hope to apply the College but my daughter think that it is her dream college and much of the application process was done by herself and yesterday I received the College's offer letter but they also give me a bad notice that the College can't give bursary for my daughter. The college give us 14 day to consider whether to accept the offer, we want but our economic situation...we don't know how to tell her. I can't bear to break her expectations. I don't want her to become a child out of school. Did you know any scholarship or bursary offer to international student?

Thank you very much.

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Reply 1
Hello everyone,

My name is Mary, I live with my family in Mexico. My daughter is 16 years old, she was applying for a Sixth form College in UK. Actually from the beginning I didn't have much hope to apply the College but my daughter think that it is her dream college and much of the application process was done by herself and yesterday I received the College's offer letter but they also give me a bad notice that the College can't give bursary for my daughter. The college give us 14 day to consider whether to accept the offer, we want but our economic situation...we don't know how to tell her. I can't bear to break her expectations. I don't want her to become a child out of school. Did you know any scholarship or bursary offer to international student?

Thank you very much.
Reply 2
up!!!
Reply 3
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Original post by Mary1129
up!!!


Bursaries and scholarships in the UK are nearly always funded by philanthropy, that is donations. The law about how donations are used are pretty strict, and the money can only be used for the specific use the donor said when they donated the money (often hundreds of years ago).

Because of that, there are very few scholarships or bursaries for overseas students, and most are based on academic excellence.

I'm afraid your best chance of funding is from a source in your home country.
Can she not go to a state 6th form for free? how can she receive a sixth form education if she hasn't done GCSEs in the UK? the information you're providing is too vague for example are you coming over here to work and your daughter stay with you? or are you looking at private boarding schools? usually those receiving bursaries and scholarships are are home UK students from low-income backgrounds not international students.
Reply 6
Original post by alice544
Can she not go to a state 6th form for free? how can she receive a sixth form education if she hasn't done GCSEs in the UK? the information you're providing is too vague for example are you coming over here to work and your daughter stay with you? or are you looking at private boarding schools? usually those receiving bursaries and scholarships are are home UK students from low-income backgrounds not international students.

Thanks for the reply,

Well, like she is not Britain so she can't apply for state school. Actually now she is study IGCSE at home to be prepared for A-level and we are applying for private boarding college so she will be alone in UK. Before we apply the college I have ask them if international student can apply for bursary, they said yes but now they refuse our apply for bursary.
Reply 7
Original post by threeportdrift
Bursaries and scholarships in the UK are nearly always funded by philanthropy, that is donations. The law about how donations are used are pretty strict, and the money can only be used for the specific use the donor said when they donated the money (often hundreds of years ago).

Because of that, there are very few scholarships or bursaries for overseas students, and most are based on academic excellence.

I'm afraid your best chance of funding is from a source in your home country.

Thanks for the reply,

Recently I also checked about it but I don't have any good news
Original post by Mary1129
Thanks for the reply,

Well, like she is not Britain so she can't apply for state school. Actually now she is study IGCSE at home to be prepared for A-level and we are applying for private boarding college so she will be alone in UK. Before we apply the college I have ask them if international student can apply for bursary, they said yes but now they refuse our apply for bursary.


I'm not sure what else I can really say except that bursaries and scholarships are distributed on a discretionary basis so the private boarding College has the right to withdraw any application for bursary or scholarship. they are also very hard to obtain unless the the student is exceptionally talented either academically or musically usually. I don't think financial need is assessed for international students unfortunately. I'm pretty sure the application deadlines for other institutions would have been in December or January. Could she not attend a private boarding college in Mexico?
Reply 9
Original post by alice544
I'm not sure what else I can really say except that bursaries and scholarships are distributed on a discretionary basis so the private boarding College has the right to withdraw any application for bursary or scholarship. they are also very hard to obtain unless the the student is exceptionally talented either academically or musically usually. I don't think financial need is assessed for international students unfortunately. I'm pretty sure the application deadlines for other institutions would have been in December or January. Could she not attend a private boarding college in Mexico?

We know but that is her dream school, when she decide to do something she is very serious and persistent if the college didn't give the offer she will be more easy to accept it but she is applied successful and now I don't know how to tell her about the bad notice
Reply 10
up!!!
Reply 11
Hello everyone,

My name is Mary, I live with my family in Mexico. My daughter is 16 years old, she was applying for a Sixth form College in UK. Actually from the beginning I didn't have much hope to apply the College but my daughter think that it is her dream college and much of the application process was done by herself and yesterday I received the College's offer letter but they also give me a bad notice that the College can't give bursary for my daughter. The college give us 14 day to consider whether to accept the offer, we want but our economic situation...we don't know how to tell her. I can't bear to break her expectations. I don't want her to become a child out of school. Did you know any scholarship or bursary offer to international student?

Thank you very much.
Original post by Mary1129
We know but that is her dream school, when she decide to do something she is very serious and persistent if the college didn't give the offer she will be more easy to accept it but she is applied successful and now I don't know how to tell her about the bad notice


Just be honest about situation but remind her that there will be plenty of future opportunities.
Reply 13
Original post by alice544
Just be honest about situation but remind her that there will be plenty of future opportunities.

I know her, she was sacrificed one year for study IGCSE at home she will be crazy but if we didn't find any idea we need to tell her
Reply 14
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Original post by Mary1129
I know her, she was sacrificed one year for study IGCSE at home she will be crazy but if we didn't find any idea we need to tell her

Private boarding colleges primarily make most of their money from international students. it is likely that they led you on and accepted her because they thought you'd pay the higher international rate. if you're really angry I would formally complain to school about the admissions procedure and see what they say. Did you make the school clearly aware that you couldn't afford the fees when you applied? If so then allowing her to continue the application when they knew she had no chance of getting a bursary is incredibly unfair and cruel.
Reply 16
Original post by alice544
Private boarding colleges primarily make most of their money from international students. it is likely that they led you on and accepted her because they thought you'd pay the higher international rate. if you're really angry I would formally complain to school about the admissions procedure and see what they say. Did you make the school clearly aware that you couldn't afford the fees when you applied? If so then allowing her to continue the application when they knew she had no chance of getting a bursary is incredibly unfair and cruel.

In Mexico we are not really rich family but we can pay our daughter to private school, when Mexican Peso is converted to British Pound we just earn around 10,000 pound per year and the fees in he college is around 36,000 pound, I have said our economic situation very clear in the application.
Original post by alice544
Private boarding colleges primarily make most of their money from international students. .


I don't know where you are getting your information from, but I've been a bursar* at three independent boarding schools and this is absolutely not the case expect in specialist language/overseas schools!

* the person responsible for the school's finances and involved in fee setting and scholarship/bursary awards
Reply 18
Original post by threeportdrift
I don't know where you are getting your information from, but I've been a bursar* at three independent boarding schools and this is absolutely not the case expect in specialist language/overseas schools!

* the person responsible for the school's finances and involved in fee setting and scholarship/bursary awards

Did you have any idea that why we can't get the bursary? My daughter have 90+ in all class during 2 years and she also done well in the interview, I am not sure if there has relation with she is an international student or not
Original post by Mary1129
Did you have any idea that why we can't get the bursary? My daughter have 90+ in all class during 2 years and she also done well in the interview, I am not sure if there has relation with she is an international student or not


It's as I explained before, bursary and scholarship money comes from charity donations. Put bluntly, British people don't donate money for overseas students to come and get a discounted education in the UK. The money donated is for bright British kids.

Full scholarships are very hard to get anyway, most bursaries are 10-25% of fees, and often that doesn't include the boarding element.

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