A scholarship is an award made by an independent school to a prospective pupil who has demonstrated extraordinary ability in one or more area.

I have helped many students to attain scholarships to top schools including Eton College (the notoriously difficult Eton Kings Scholarship), Westminster (Westminster Challenge), Winchester, KCS and Hampton.

 

Academic scholarships are contingent on passing special scholarship exam papers which will be considerably more demanding than ordinary 11+ or 13+ entrance exams. Scholarships may also be awarded to pupils who demonstrate exceptional ability in other areas such as music, sport and the performing arts.

The award of a scholarship generally includes a reduction in the fees for a fee-paying school. This can be anything from a small, token reduction in acknowledgement of a pupil's achievements to a substantial reduction in fees up to, in some circumstances, 100%. Large reductions in fees as a result of a scholarship are usually means-tested.

 

There are many different scholarships used by different schools. All tend to be considerably more demanding than normal entrance exam papers as they are designed to challenge the most able of pupils. Scholarship exams will take place in a number of subjects which will always included English and Maths, often Science, and a selection of other subjects such as Latin, Greek, French and other modern foreign languages, History, Geography and reasoning.

 

Timing of scholarship exams varies from school to school and they will probably not take place at the same time as the school's standard entrance exams. As always, it is worth checking the current arrangements with your destination school.