16+ Bursaries
Applications for 2027 entry are open until Friday 16 October 2026
If you wish to apply for a 16+ bursary, please make this clear on your application form. If your total family income is less than £45,000, we will reduce the size of the application fee from £210 to £30, if you can’t afford the fee please let us know.
Once we’ve received your application, we’ll send you a financial assessment form with guidance on how to complete it. You will need to send us the completed form by the application deadline and any additional documents by 16 October to be considered for a bursary.
Your personal information will remain strictly confidential and will not affect the outcome of your child’s assessment, which will take place in November. All candidates are required to take the assessment so we can make sure they’ll be able to cope with the fast-paced learning at Highgate.
Following your application, you will be asked to attend an online meeting with a representative from Bursary Assessment Associates, an independent company who help us assess bursary candidates. They will treat your information in total confidence and will help to guide you through the process. You can read more about them here: Information for parents | Bursary Assessment Associates
In your meeting, the BAA representative will go through your completed financial assessment form, you can ask them questions and explain anything that might be unclear from your form. They will then make a recommendation to us regarding your eligibility for a bursary award.
If your child is successful in their assessment, we will then make a final decision on the size of the bursary based on BAA’s recommendation, the number of candidates applying and the amount of funding we have available. We will write to you with an offer of a place, and with information on the size of the bursary by early December.
Please click here to read further information about 16+ Admissions.
New for September 2027 is the Changemakers Bursary Programme, which will enable us to recruit an additional four bursary holders at 16+ entry. We also have our ongoing Keyworker Bursary provision.
- Changemakers Bursary
In addition to our ongoing bursary provision, we are pleased to announce that a further four bursary places will be available at 16+ entry in 2027, thanks to generous donor support.
The Changemakers bursary programme is focused on enabling individuals with a strong academic drive along with a keen entrepreneurial flair, to access an outstanding education that will help them make a real difference in the years to come. Successful candidates will be independent thinkers, who possess ‘outside the box’ problem solving skills, and who already have significant extracurricular achievements or responsibilities. Applications from individuals who intend to study STEM subjects at A level and beyond are desirable, although any subject combination will be considered.
Find out more about the Changemakers bursary programme here.
- Keyworker Bursary
Each year, we allocate one full-fee equivalent bursary for a child of parents/carers who are keyworkers living in the local area.
We define a keyworker as someone who is employed by the public sector, in a frontline role, delivering an essential public service. Examples of such roles include: clinical NHS staff (other than doctors and dentists), teachers in schools and in further education and sixth form colleges, police officers and community support officers, prison officers, probation service staff, firefighters, ambulance service crew and members of the armed forces.
Whilst this bursary is aimed at families where both parents/carers are key workers, in a situation where only one is employed in such a role, careful consideration will be given to the circumstances/employment of the second parent/carer in deciding whether this specific bursary should apply.
- How much might we receive?
We realise that it is helpful to estimate the size of the bursary support that may be awarded to your child. BAA judge each application carefully, looking at several factors such as:
- Sources of income
- Outgoings
- Assets
- Liabilities
- The value and council tax band of the family home
- Size of the family
As a rough guide, if your total family income is less than £45,000 and if you don’t have significant assets (e.g. savings), then your child could be entitled to 100% funding of school fees, as well as additional help with uniforms, IT or educational trips. If your total family income is between £45,000 and £107,000 then you may be eligible for a partial bursary.
Our Keyworker and Changemaker bursaries provide an enhanced level of support over a wider range of total family income: for these bursaries, you can consider applying if your total family income is up to £125,000.
These are for guidance only and BAA will assess your personal situation, if you think you may be eligible then please get in touch.