This campaign has now closed
A new Fund for scholarships and bursaries is the object of a new campaign launched by the Development Trust in 2007. With £50m to be raised in six years, enabling a projected 80 talented boys from less affluent families to come to Harrow, the School is setting an ambitious target. However, with pressure increasing from Government, Charities Commission and media coverage on the cost of a private education, this development priority is fundamental to the School's strategic planning, as well as having a wide appeal for all Harrow's supporters, whether alumni, parents or friends of the School.
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Beneficiaries
Situation
Scholarships used to be a point of competition between schools and parents of academic children would shop around for the best deal. Schools would offer higher levels of support in order to attract the best pupils. Recent trends in the marketplace, fuelled by the charitable status debate, have driven headline scholarship percentages down as schools attempt to offer assistance to more pupils, rather than large amounts to a few. This looks as though it has levelled out the differences between schools' scholarship awards but underneath the scholarships, which get all the publicity, are the bursaries which, for well-endowed schools, can be a bottomless pot from which to offer incentives to bright children. Most schools now offer means-tested scholarships, which means that scholars from affluent families get honorary scholarships, and less affluent scholars get more discount off the fees. This is undoubtedly much fairer but it's harder for poorer schools, of which Harrow is one, to offer the same level of access as its competitors. There is no doubt that making more financial assistance available to parents does make the system fairer. It provides an opportunity for talented children to develop to their full potential. A recent Peter Beckwith Scholar, Thomas Lee (The Grove 2001/3), says of his benefactor, "There is no way I could hope to repay the sheer magnitude of his generosity except by doing the best I can in such an opportunistic environment and, if such a time comes when I might be in a position to carry out a similar scheme in later life, there is no doubt that I would follow his lead." This kind of appreciation from pupils of the generosity of scholarship founders creates a virtuous circle, which ultimately benefits society as a whole by creating ever-increasing opportunities for children. The School's scholarship awards fund is just over £10m at the moment, with available funds per year standing at about £1.25m. 220 boys in the School receive some level of financial support, but only 5% have awards worth more than 50%. The ideal would be to have a fund of around £40m and to provide about 80 fully funded places per year; this is our fundraising aim over the next six years. If you would like to donate to the Scholarships and Bursaries fund, or create a Scholarship scheme, please contact James Virgin on 020 8872 8130 or email devtrust2@harrowschool.org.uk