Why Bursaries Are So Important

 by Emily Dowse

Bursaries are defined as a ‘grant, especially one awarded to someone to enable them to study at university or college’. Similar to a scholarship, a percentage or the full cost of a private education will be funded to the family of which a student wishes to attend a particular educational environment; in turn the child will receive the higher education they deserve/ need without a cost to their parents or guardians. There are obvious benefits to this scheme for multiple reasons of which I would like to cover in this article, along with my own experience of receiving a fully funded scholarship so far.

The Portsmouth Grammar School prides itself for the opportunities it beholds whilst being affordable for financially disadvantaged families. The school and sixth form hosts bursaries humbly and receives courteous donors who wish to give scholarships to talented pupils with potential to thrive in the PGS environment. For example, Mr Brian Wilkie is the one of the schools generous donors, he pays two scholars to attend PGS each year from Mayfield school,  alongside the help of a bursary given by PGS itself. This is where I come onto the scene; my name is Emily Dowse, I was a student at Mayfield school from twenty-sixteen until twenty-twenty-one, myself and a student named Tareef Ahmed applied for Mr Wilkie's scholarship in twenty-twenty-one, enduring a rather long process of interviews and small examinations online to test our ability, strengths and weaknesses; calculating whether we were right for the schools selective criteria. After this process we got the news that we qualified for the scholarship and it changed a lot of things and perspectives for us.

Having been in PGS for around three months now, I have come to see the major advantages of attending this sixth form; I am almost positive I would not have thrived as much in a normal college environment compared to this school. On the first day here I was nervous of how people may have viewed me if they found out I had a scholarship and didn't pay for my education like they did. This perspective was soon demolished when I found out that so many students alongside myself were also under bursaries and scholarships. It made me realise that this stigma around students receiving this income support was slowly fading away and for the better; without this opportunity I would never have been able to attend this school, nor would I have known that the school and sixth form offers bursaries calculated by your parents/guardians wages. In complete honesty, my confidence in learning, my productivity and social skills have all improved noticeably and just in this short amount of time being here, surrounded by so many supportive teachers and students. I think it's crucial to note this change for pupils who may not think they will ever overcome their shy demeanour, as I felt the exact same way. 

It is so important that this scheme is continued, so that families from all backgrounds are given the chance to access a private education by choice and hard work. I want donors to realise the advantages of funding this type of environment and why donating is crucial in helping children or young adults reach their potential in an area which best suits their work ethics; this is inevitably the reason as to why bursaries are so significant to an above and beyond learning experience.