Bursaries and the private sector

Richard Russell, Head of Colfe’s School, reminds us of those key investors and benefactors behind the scenes who enable bright pupils across the social spectrum to benefit from private education.

The amount of money allocated by independent schools to academic and other awards has never been greater. Enthusiasm for means tested bursaries in particular has grown greatly in recent years and opportunities for children from non-privileged backgrounds to participate in independent education have increased massively.

The decision of the New Labour government to axe the assisted places scheme ten years ago was the stimulus that many independent schools needed. A decade later, more than one third of pupils in independent schools benefit from some form of fee subsidy. The total value of this assistance exceeds £300 million annually. It is all privately funded.

The principle of subsidizing scholars from less affluent families is deeply embedded in the traditions of most independent schools. We can all point proudly to historical documents which prove the altruistic bona fides of our founding fathers. My own school, Colfe’s, is no exception: Abraham Colfe was a real person. He lived in the 17th century and was, for most of his working life, the Vicar of St Mary’s parish church in Lewisham. He founded a school to educate the poor of Blackheath and, when he died in 1652, he left the school in trust to the Worshipful Company of Leathersellers in the City of London.

Our link with the Leathersellers remains strong today. Other City Livery Companies are heavily involved in education as well: the Mercers, the Haberdashers and the Skinners are prominent examples. These are long established institutions in the City of London which have, over many centuries, invested mightily in education, creating opportunities for intelligent pupils from a wide range of backgrounds to benefit from private education. They do their work quietly but effectively, bringing professional expertise to the table, as well as financial support.

Recently created foundations have also played their part. Key philanthropists of the last decade have been Peter Lampl and Peter Ogden, founders of the Sutton and Ogden Trusts respectively. Both have chosen to make a difference in education, following highly successful business careers. Their commitment has made a real impact on the life chances of thousands of pupils who might once have benefited from an academic education in their local grammar school.

The Ogden Trust principle of matching funding has been a particular success. When the school has identified a suitable candidate the Trust will pay 50% of the tuition fee. The school is then expected to find an external sponsor who will foot the rest of the bill. Corporate sponsorship is best, preferably from a local business or a private local benefactor. Thus the work of the Trust brings schools closer together with their local communities, whilst simultaneously ensuring that bright individual pupils get the education that they deserve.

Neither the Odgen Trust nor the Sutton Trust has embraced the New Labour Academies programme with any passion. With one or two exceptions, the Livery Companies have been equally muted in their enthusiasm. It is possible that the veto on the Academies’ freedom to select on academic criteria has been a sticking point, but more likely that they are wary of too close an affiliation with celebrity architects and a Prime Minister whose best political years are behind him.
Individual independent schools have also been working hard to raise money for their own foundations. Eton is reported to have accumulated a bursary fund of more than £50 million already. Manchester Grammar School was the pioneer of such activity in the last decade and its erstwhile High Master, Martin Stephen, is now pursuing a similar agenda at St Paul’s.

The most recent innovation has seen high-profile independent schools like Harrow and Dulwich College establish overseas franchise operations in the Far East. Income generated by schools in Phuket and Shanghai is sent back to the UK to boost bursary endowment funds in the UK. This is proving particularly lucrative for one school which aims to become “needs blind” in its admissions policy within a decade.

The top independent schools in the country are thus taking bursaries more seriously. They are not, however, working in isolation. Most independent schools, my own included, now offer bursaries to candidates of high calibre but modest means. The calibre is important: we are looking for pupils who will make a net contribution to school life, either in the classroom or outside it.

It would be easy to attribute the recent surge of independent interest in bursaries to imminent legislative change requiring schools to demonstrate public benefit. It would also be wrong. For most independent schools, bursaries are about enriching school life through social variety and being true to the principles of our Foundations. It is not in the interests of any school to exist in a middle-class vacuum.

The story of bursaries in independent schools is a private sector success story. When it withdrew the assisted places scheme ten years ago, the first Blair government provided the incentive that independent schools needed to revisit their founding principles. They have done so with fantastic success.