Now's there's a question.
In short, yes they can be, although not to be fooled, scholarships aren't handed out as freely and easily, as I'm sure we'd all like! Traditional mindset (myself included) is that a scholarship will cover 100% of fee's for your child's time at said school. For the most part this is not the situation. Scholarship awards range between 10 - 100% but nowadays, for the most part, are the lower end of the scale.
Awards are hotly contested and students are expected to hit specific targets and milestones in order to retain the scholarship for further years.
Entrance and qualification requirements differ from each school. It's therefore imperative if you, as parents, are planning on the scholarship route that you identify your specific schools at least 2 years in advance to give you and your child the very best chance of success.
Research, planning and perseverance are key. You will need to be informed and ensure that you present the best version of your child based on the selection criteria. For example is it better to excel at a slightly lower Piano Grade than be average/good at the next grade up.
Research should also include previous award criteria and the amount offered. It would be somewhat annoying to heart breaking to focus on a scholarship believing it to cover 100% of fee's when instead it usually carries a lower award.
Sadly a pretty large helping of realism is also required. As parents it's natural to believe one's child is amazing, talented, advanced and totally brilliant (most of the time) but in reality one needs to be totally objective. Benchmark against their peers, seek honest input and guidance from teachers, tutors, sports masters and alike.
Finally try and keep the pressure to a minimum for your child and of course, ensure you have a back up plan B. Remember if you aren't successful at 11+ and 13+, 6th form scholarships are available and are usually not so fiercely contested.
Our tutors are working with a number of students aiming for entrance and scholarship applications, focusing on Maths, English, Science and Verbal Reasoning. We work closely with the parents to identify area's of strength and weaknesses, focusing on past papers and question/answer style of their school of choice. Planning is key, as is time.
Be prepared, be informed and give yourselves time.
For more information www.juunipatutors.co.uk or info@juunipa.co.uk
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