How do you select which schools you provide Scholarships for?
Many of the Scholarships we provide are in schools or colleges nominated by a donor, or group of donors. Our Bookshelf Scholarships are awarded to schools or colleges we choose, on the basis of a representative spread across England – we aim to award a spread of Scholarships by region, type of school (e.g. Academy vs. Sixth Form College etc) and both inner-city and more rural schools.
How do you select the student who receives the Scholarship?
Once a school or college has been identified for a Scholarship, the school or college is responsible for choosing the student who most deserves the award, on the basis that they know the students best. We give two guidelines:
- The student must, to the best knowledge of the school or college, be from a lower-income household, as defined by an annual household income of less than around £30,000 pa. This figure is around the average (median) household income in the UK.
- The award should be made on the basis of either absolute achievement in terms of A-Level results, or relative achievement in terms of A-Level results whilst overcoming challenging personal circumstances (e.g. personal or family illness during Years 12 or 13).
Why can’t I donate to a Scholarship in an Independent School?
Our aim is to focus financial support to students who need it most – those from lower income households who up until recently would have been in receipt of a Government Maintenance Grant. These students are much less prevalent in the Independent Sector, and so our focus reflects this.
Why can’t I donate to a Scholarship in Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland?
Our focus is on students living in England, as those in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland receive different and generally more significant Government funding.
Why don’t I always find out about the Scholarship my donation went towards?
We give those individuals or groups who fund a complete Scholarship outline details of what the student is going onto study, and where, as we believe it makes the donation more personal and powerful. However, we simply can’t provide the same level of detail for every smaller contribution due to the administrative demands it would place on us. We are a small, lean organisation, and unfortunately managing the feedback administration for hundreds of donations would take away resources from our primary aim – helping students. But watch this space – if we can come up with a clever, efficient and manageable way of doing it, we will!