Scholarships, Prizes, Academic and Music Awards

(effective September 2011)

These notes are a guide to scholarships, prizes and academic awards at Highgate School. Parents or carers requiring guidance are encouraged to contact the Director of Admissions (applicants) or the Director of Studies (pupils currently in the School).

Scholarships, awards and prizes

At Highgate, academic awards are made to reward sustained outstanding work, to encourage the maintenance of high standards and to foster a developing love of learning.

Pupils holding scholarship, academic awards or receiving prizes are expected to maintain high academic standards, to help set a scholarly tone in lessons and to take a leading part in extra-curricular activities of an academic nature. In particular, they are required to attend and to prepare for meetings of the scholars (these meetings are called Academic Forums) held twice per term, where academic topics are studied and discussed.

We are therefore looking to award scholarships to pupils who show evidence of academic excellence over a range of subject disciplines, who avidly amass knowledge, and who think for themselves and question critically what they read, hear and study.

Academic scholarships from September 2011 will continue to be worth up to a maximum of 10% per annum of the school fee. The School aims through its academic scholarships to attract and reward able pupils and to promote scholarship and learning. Parents and carers are warmly encouraged to approach the school for more guidance at any point.

All award-holders’ parents and carers are invited periodically to forgo the fee remission, or a proportion of it, and to allow the School to use it to help fund bursaries awarded to able children from disadvantaged families.

Scholarships, prizes, academic and music awards for external candidates

These are made to pupils entering the Senior School at 11+, 13+ and 16+ (Years 7, 9 and 12) on the basis of their performance in our various entrance tests: other than music auditions, there are no separate scholarship examinations, except for 13+ candidates (see below) and for 16+ candidates (who sit an extra scholarship interview).

Scholarships will be offered as a percentage of the annual fee as set out above up to a maximum value of 10%. Up to four scholarships (key stage or Foundation) are offered at 11+ to external candidates. Additionally, prizes – either Venn (for Mathematics) or Hopkins (for English) – worth up to £1000 per annum for five years are offered at 11+ and 13+.

Scholarships at Year 9 (13+ entrance)

Entrance to Highgate at 13+ from 2013 will be by means of tests sat in the Michaelmas Term of Year 7; places offered will be conditional on passing Common Entrance in Year 8 where the pupil is following Common Entrance. Up to three Scholarships (key stage or Foundation) worth a maximum of ten per cent of the annual school fee will be made on the basis of performance in a scholarship examination sat in the summer term of Year 8 to those holding confirmed places at Highgate. The details of the 13+ scholarship will be published in the summer term 2012 following consultation with preparatory schools in 2011-12.

Entrance to Highgate at 13+ for September 2012 will be on the basis of tests sat in January of Year 8 (2012). Up to three scholarships will be awarded on the basis of these tests.

Internal scholarships and awards

For pupils already in the school, six key stage scholarships worth up to a maximum of 10% of the annual school fee) are awarded at the end of Year 6 (i.e. to pupils entering the Senior School); at the end of each subsequent year no more than two key stage scholarships and a number of honorary exhibitions are awarded to reward exceptional and consistently hard-working term-time and outstanding examination performance. Our aim in so doing is three-fold: to accommodate late developers, to give pupils a genuine incentive to sustain academic ambition throughout their school career and to promote further the standing of academic scholarship in the school.

Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 Scholarships (up to 10% of the school fee per annum), are tenable for the rest of the Key Stage (Key Stage 3 = Years 7, 8 and 9; Key Stage 4 = Years 10 and 11).

Scholarships and awards made internally come into effect in the following September.

Foundation Scholarships

The 1876 Scheme approved by the Charity Commissioners made provision for a number of Foundation Scholarships not to exceed ten per cent of the total pupils. A Foundation Scholarship is a senior academic scholarship. At any point, a Foundation Scholarship may be offered, either externally or internally, for exceptional and/or sustained outstanding performance. A pupil might show exceptional talent in a particular group of subjects (for example, in Mathematics and the sciences, or in English and other arts subjects). Alternatively, she/he might show sustained excellence over a year in most or all subject areas, consistently gaining the highest grade in both achievement and effort in interim grade assessments as well as excellent results in any internal examinations.

A Foundation Scholarship brings with it assurance that the scholarship will be held, subject to continued excellent work and behaviour, for the rest of a pupil’s time at the school. A Foundation Scholarship will have the same value as a key stage scholarship held previously by the scholar or, where the pupil has not held a scholarship, up to 10% of the annual school fee.

A pupil’s all-round commitment and behaviour need to be exemplary for a scholarship to be awarded; in the case of pupils entering from another school, the pupil’s school report needs to indicate that the pupil would be a willing and able contributor to the extra-curricular and academic life at Highgate.

Sixth Form Academic Awards

For Year 12 pupils already in the School who do not already hold Foundation Scholarships, sixth form awards, worth a maximum of 10% of the school fee and tenable for two years, will be awarded following GCSE results on the basis of (a) outstanding results at GCSE (usually a minimum of 9 A*) from GCSEs taught at the school in subjects taught by and at Highgate, at a level determined by the Head Master annually on scrutiny of the year group’s results in August, and (b) an exemplary and scholarly approach to term-time work in Years 10 and 11. Year 11 applicants from other schools will be offered Academic Awards where their grade predictions and performance at interview lead the School to anticipate an equivalent performance at GCSE. Securing nine A* or more is only one of the criteria for a sixth form award.Re-awarding of Key Stage Scholarships

It is always hoped that a Key Stage scholar would be re-awarded a scholarship on entering the next Key Stage (eg. a Key Stage 3 scholar entering Year 10 or a Key Stage 4 scholar entering Year 12); however, scholarships and academic awards are made on the basis of open competition at that point and will take into account term-time as well as examination performance. The Director of Studies will give parents and carers notice of at least two terms if a pupil’s performance, for whatever reason, appears unlikely to qualify her or him for a re-award and a month’s notice of the decision not to re-award a scholarship. Parents and carers would have an opportunity to appeal to the Head Master against this decision and these arrangements would be set out at the time of the decision being communicated to parents and carers. The re-award of a Key Stage Scholarship requires the scholar to have an excellent behavioural record.

Music Scholarships and Exhibitions

Music Scholarships and Exhibitions will be awarded on the basis of auditions and interviews for pupils in Year 6 (either from other schools or from the Junior School) for entry into Year 7, pupils in Year 8 (from the Senior School) for entry into Year 9, or pupils in Year 11 (from other schools only) for entry into Year 12. For 13+ pupils applying for entry in 2012, auditions will take place in Year 8 (usually in the Lent Term); for 13+ pupils applying for entry in 2013 or later, first auditions will be held in the October of Year 7 when provisional music scholarships and exhibitions will be awarded; second auditions will be offered to those holding confirmed places in February of Year 8 to confirm music awards. A Music Scholarship can be worth up to 10% of the annual school fee, tenable for the duration of the pupil’s time in the school, subject to the Director of Music’s assessment that progress and conduct remain excellent. The level of fee reduction is aimed at rewarding and attracting excellent musicians, but also at reflecting the cost to parents and carers of their children’s musical activity.

Music Exhibitions and Music Scholarships entitle the award-holder to free tuition on two instruments, as long as the tuition is provided in school by Highgate music teachers.

A Music Scholarship (or Exhibition) can be held in conjunction with an academic award or a bursary; where an academic award (i.e. scholarship or prize) and a music scholarship are awarded, the total value of the awards will not exceed 20% of the annual school fee.

Current scholarships and awards

These arrangements, updated in September 2011, do not affect any awards already made. The policy on scholarships and awards is subject to annual review by governors.

Bursaries

The school, through its Bursary Fund and through a separate charity, the Friends of Highgate School (charity number: 1056624), gives bursarial assistance to pupils whose family circumstances warrant it and where funds permit. Please refer to the separate policy on bursaries (financial assistance).

A bursary, which is means-tested, can be held in conjunction with a scholarship; the total value of the fee remission will in this case be means-tested.

The Director of the Charity is always happy to give advice to parents and carers seeking admission to Highgate about bursarial assistance.