Financial Assistance and Bursaries

Financial assistance is available to those families with pupils entering Bolton School from ages 11 through to 18. Bursaries ensure that pupils are drawn from diverse backgrounds; many of our students are from families whose income is below the national average. Currently, over 270 pupils receive Bursary-assisted places. This is made possible by our Open Door Bursary Fund, which aims to maintain the ethos of Lord Leverhulme who, when re-endowing the School in 1915, wanted to offer an education for all, regardless of financial circumstances.

Who's Eligible?

The School offers fee assistance to those parents whose income is such that they would not otherwise be able to pay the full fees. The awards are based on the child's performance in the entrance examination and the degree of assistance required. The latter is based on an annual declaration of income and assets. The Bursary will continue for every year in which your child remains at the School.  However, it is re-assessed annually.

You can download an application form for a bursary from the bottom of this page.

Parents whose income is less than £18,860 may be offered full remission of fees (currently one in twelve pupils in our two Senior Schools receives a free place). Those parents whose income to 5 April 2012 exceeds £75,198 will not qualify for assistance.

How To Apply For A Bursary

If you wish to be considered for a Bursary please complete the Application Form which will be sent out with the invitation to sit the entrance examination. That form will require an estimate of your income for the year ending 5 April 2011. After submission of the form, there will be a parental interview with the School's Finance Manager.

If your child is successful in the Entrance Examination he/she will be offered a place, by letter on 27 February 2012. That offer will inform you of the provisional level of Bursary Award (if you qualify on financial grounds) in terms of your contribution towards fees. You should then follow the instructions relating to your acceptance of that place.

In May you will be asked to complete a Final Declaration of Income form. On this you will be asked to enter details of your actual income to 5 April 2011. With this Declaration you will be asked to provide documentation to corroborate your income for the previous fiscal year. We will inform you of the amount of your own contribution towards fees, in writing, during the course of the school summer holiday.

The Bursary will continue for every year in which your child remains at the School. We may ask you to pay a greater proportion of the fees if your income should rise, but there is no obligation on the School's part to increase the percentage should your income fall; in the latter situation each particular case will be judged on its merits. Each April therefore you will be asked to complete a new Declaration of Income form and to provide details of your income for the previous fiscal year.

You will be provided with explanatory notes in order to help you to complete both the Provisional and Final Declaration forms. Alternatively you may telephone the Bursary Officer, Miss Nightingale, on 01204 840201 ext 329, or contact her by email cnightingale@boltonschool.org.

Sixth Form Bursaries

Bursary support is available to students who apply to join the Boys' or Girls' Division Sixth Form. We award bursaries after consideration of family income and a student's academic merit; in order to help us ascertain the academic potential of a girl applying for a bursary we will require her to sit a cognitive test administered by the School.

You can download a brochure describing Bolton School's bursary scheme below:

Bursaries Brochure 2012

Foundation Grant Application Form Example - Boys 2011-12

Foundation Grant Application Form Example - Girls 2011-12

Bolton School Facade