Highgate is a charity
Our charity exists to give children and young people from less advantaged backgrounds opportunities to gain an education of the highest quality
Our main charitable priority is our Bursary Fund
We are proud to provide close to 100 means-tested bursaries to widen access to our Junior and Senior Schools. From 2026, we will have bursary holders in every year from Year 3 to Year 13.
We also fundraise for:
Music Bursaries: ensuring that access to music is available to all our bursary holding pupils.
Partnerships: supporting children at state schools across North London through our Chrysalis Partnership Teaching work with over 50 local primary and secondary schools.
LAET: Our ongoing support of our sibling school, London Academy of Excellence, Tottenham.
Any gift, however you choose to give and at whatever level, supports Highgate’s purpose in creating as many transformative, educational opportunities possible for bright, brilliant, hard-working young people.
The bursary system supported and guided my children to realise their potential, empowering them to grow with comfort and confidence.
— Parent of bursary recipients
Bursaries
Bursaries
With the recent changes to VAT, the rising cost of living and other pressures, we face a new financial reality that threatens the support we can offer to young people facing disadvantage.
We are now creating a step-change in our fundraising effort, so that we can first sustain and then grow our impact for young people into the future. Our ambition is that a significant minority of children and young people in our school hold bursaries.
This will transform the futures of those young people, and the experience of every pupil at Highgate.
Charles, Bursary recipient, Class of 2019
“I joined Highgate at 11+ in 2012 and went to study Economics at the University of Warwick. I come from a single parent household, with my mum and younger sister who also came to Highgate, and went to a very normal primary school in Hornsey.
When the conversation about private school came up with peers, I remember friends, and their parents, saying things like “people like us never end up in places like that”, or “you’re not going to fit in”.
Every child should have opportunity to achieve their full potential. This is why extending the bursary initiative to Junior School pupils is so important because at that age, having fun and building friendships is what matters.”
Click on the button to watch a short film with Charles and other Highgate bursary alumni.
London Academy of Excellence Tottenham
LAET is a sixth form free school which provides an academically rigorous sixth form education to students in the Tottenham area.
Chrysalis Partnership Programme
Chrysalis is a year-round programme involving more than 20 Highgate teachers working on projects with 48 partner schools across Haringey, Camden, Islington, Ealing, Newham, Brent and Barnet. All our partnership work encourages academic enrichment, university preparation, and careers and employability support.
Frequently asked questions about donating to Highgate
- Why does Highgate need to raise funds?
Founded in 1565, we were granted land and a title but no endowment to run our School. Donations help us to achieve our charitable vision more quickly and to greater effect. With recent changes like imposition of VAT on school fees, the removal of our business rates reduction as a charity and NIC and cost of living increases, we are creating a step-change in our fundraising effort so we can sustain and grow our impact for young people into the future.
- Is Highgate a charity?
Yes, Sir Roger Cholmeley’s School at Highgate is a registered charity, no. 312765.
- How much of my donation will be allocated towards Highgate’s charitable projects?
We allocate 100% of your donation towards the area which you wish to support. At Highgate no administrative or other costs are met through fundraising.
- I would like my donation to support a particular area. Is this possible?
Yes. When making your gift, choose your preferred area from the drop-down menu.
- Does all bursary and partnership spending come from fundraising?
No, we also commit around 3% of revenue each year to help fund bursaries and partnerships.
- Can Highgate claim Gift Aid?
Yes. Highgate is a registered charity, so we can claim Gift Aid on donations made out of UK taxed income.
- I would like to make a regular monthly donation. How do I do this?
Regular monthly donations can easily be set up online by direct debit here
- I would like to leave a bequest to Highgate in my Will. Can you help?
Yes. For more information about leaving a legacy to Highgate, please contact our Development Director by email at development@highgateschool.org.uk or call 020 8347 2101.
- Do you have a Donor’s Charter?
Yes. Our Donor’s Charter is:
- We will regularly publish information about our School’s activities and progress.
- Fundraising activity will be supported by a clear case for support.
- If you wish your donation to go towards a particular project, we will ensure this happens.
- If you request anonymity, we will treat your donation as confidential.
- We will acknowledge your donation appropriately, as soon as possible after we receive it.
- Donors’ rights to privacy and confidentiality will be respected, with all records kept securely, in compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998.
- Donors may request that their details be removed from our School’s development database or the number/type of solicitations limited, if so desired.
- Is there a link between donations and admissions?
No. There is no link between donations and admissions; donors do not get preferential treatment in any area and this is explicitly stated, in writing, before a donation is accepted.
- Do you have a review process before you accept donations?
Yes. Great care is taken to ensure we do not accept donations that risks bringing the school into disrepute or breaches the law. For more information about this, please click here.
- Does Highgate have an ethics committee?
Yes, Highgate wants to ensure we are fundraising ethically. Highgate’s Ethics Committee is comprised of the Head, Bursar and Development Director, alongside members of the Governing Body; the Committee meets annually and reports to the full Governing Body. The committee tests policies and procedures, reviews and analyses developments in the charitable sector to stress-test Highgate’s policies and scrutinises the reporting of the Development Office, for internal and external audiences.
- I would like my donation to support a particular area. Is this possible?