Frequently Asked Questions

Our purpose is to help children in England, Wales and Scotland where the circumstances are so difficult that a boarding environment is deemed essential for the normal development of the child. Our main emphasis is on boarding need, not educational need. In exceptional circumstances our Trustees will consider a day placement, at an independent school, when a younger child is seen to be at risk or vulnerable in their present school or local environment.

The Foundation makes grants to help pay for school fees, day and boarding, for children it agrees to support. This support alone will not be sufficient to pay the whole fees.

You will need to secure additional funding, usually from other charities (many of whom the Foundation can help you contact), from the chosen school itself, and from your own or a family resource if that is possible.
How do I start?

You will be asked to complete an Application Form. While you may need some assistance in filling out this form, we are asking you only for information necessary to assess whether we can support the child or children in your care. Normally, applications cannot be considered from home-owning families where substantial equity exists in the property, or where there are other substantial financial resources.

Once your application has been accepted by the Foundation, one of our representatives will arrange to visit you at home to prepare a report. This report will be considered with your application and other supporting documents. (See PART 1 of the Application Form).

If your application is successful and a grant is made, you will receive confirmation of our offer and be asked to sign and return our Conditions of Award. A copy of the offer letter will also be sent to the Headmaster/Bursar of your chosen school. Therefore if an award is made it will have a fixed upper limit as Trustees take the view that it is better to help many children rather than a few. The grant will be paid directly to the school.

Yes - the Foundation’s Trustees want to help as many children as possible. To do this, we and other trusts (many with similar criteria for support) work together – with the schools themselves who normally provide a bursary - to raise the money needed to support each child. The other charitable trusts and bodies we work closely with include:

The Frank Buttle Trust
Audley House, 13 Palace Street, London SW1E 5HX, telephone: 020 7828 7311
The Reedham Trust
The Lodge, 23 Old Lodge Lane, Purley, Surrey, CR8 4DJ, telephone: 020 8660 1461
Independent Schools Council (ISC)
Educational Grants Adviser. Advice line 05601 503524 weekdays 9 – 11 am

No, not all. We need to be satisfied that the school to which you apply can meet your child’s needs and also, importantly, that the money is available (from all sources) to pay the school fees.

Many parents are surprised to learn that there are some State-Maintained Boarding Schools in the UK. These are some 50% less expensive than independent boarding schools because tuition costs are free and a charge is made only for boarding. You may like to contact the State Boarding Schools’ Association (www.sbsa.org.uk) or ring 020 7798 1580 for further information and to download/receive a copy of the “Parents’ Guide to Maintained Boarding Schools”.

This will depend on how quickly we receive all the information we need. We hope to be able to reach a decision within eight to twelve weeks from receipt of your application form. We do our work as quickly as we can and certainly try to accommodate urgent applications at any time.

A boarding place application will generally be considered for children aged between 9 up to 16. A day place application will exceptionally be considered for a child from the age of 7 up to 13 years old. Where boarding is not considered appropriate, the younger child may be assisted to find a day place at an independent school, if the need matches the charity’s criteria. Where there is a strong boarding need – and where your own and the child’s circumstances don’t change - our grant would normally continue for the whole duration of the child’s attendance at boarding school. We review each child’s support each year.

Each year in the Summer Term, we will send you a Financial Review Form in which we ask you to disclose your current financial situation and any changes in your domestic circumstances.