Diluting exclusivity? The prevalence and distribution of bursaries and scholarships for Britain’s private schools

Title:  Diluting exclusivity? The prevalence and distribution of bursaries and scholarships for Britain’s private schools. 

Authors: Francis Green, Golo Henseke, Sangwoo Lee, Anna Yong.

British Journal of Sociology of Education, 2026 online, 1–21.

What’s It About?

Especially in the course of public debate surrounding the imposition of VAT on private school fees, attention is drawn to bursaries, as a key channel through which a more socially-mixed composition of private school pupils can be achieved. This paper charts the payment of bursaries and scholarships to families, both historically and over the last quarter century.

Methodology

It deploys the Family Resources Survey, a nationally-representative high-quality annual survey of family finances across the UK, covering the financial years 1997-8 to 2023-4. The survey records receipt of bursary or scholarship grants for children attending independent schools, alongside family composition, and detailed financial information.

Key Findings

• Over these years, one in ten private school pupils received a bursary or scholarship. However, since the sums granted were normally far less than the fees, in total only 3.4 percent of total fees were mitigated in this way.
• The proportion of pupils receiving a bursary or scholarship increased during this quarter century, from 8 percent to 14 percent. However, in relative terms the average grant amount decreased from 57 percent of total school fees in 1997-2000  to 27 percent in 2021-24.
• Receipt of a grant was most likely for a private school pupil in a middle-income family (from the 40^th to the 60^th rank in family income, on a 100-point spectrum). However, their advantage over those from higher income families diminished over time.
• The amount of grant for those who received one was greatest for those private school pupils in the lowest 30 percent of the income spectrum (£7941 in 2023 prices). The low degree of progressiveness, together with the fact that private school participation is highly concentrated on families with high incomes, means that 30 percent of all bursary and scholarship funds were disbursed to families in the top decile of the income distribution, while the lowest three deciles together received in total only 17 percent.
• Drawing on these findings and on historical evidence from the 20^th century, the paper concludes that bursaries and scholarships are unlikely to bring forth a significant reform of the socio-economic sectoral divide in Britain’s school system.

Limitations

The data did not distinguish between bursaries and scholarships. Nevertheless, a large proportion of these funds are, in fact, bursaries. In addition, the distinction bursaries and scholarships is sometimes fuzzy because bursaries can be subject to tacitly elevated admission requirements, and the value of scholarships is sometimes needs-based.