Assisted Places

S. Anselm’s has a proud tradition of offering Assisted Places to families who would ordinarily prioritise their children’s education over other discretionary expenditure but are unable to do so for a variety of reasons, almost always because of financial circumstances.

We therefore have a limited number of Assisted Places available each year and which can be of any value. The demand for Assisted Places is generally oversubscribed however, so we operate a fair and transparent system for those who wish to apply.

For your son or daughter to be considered for an Assisted Place, you will need to complete a detailed Financial Circumstances Form which must be submitted to the Bursar in our Assisted Places Application Window which for September 2023 joiners opened on the first day of the Summer Term 2022 and will close at the end of July 2023.  In any given year, submitting an early application in the window is helpful to S. Anselm’s from an administrative point of view, though it does not confer any advantage to the applicant.

An independent assessment of the financial circumstances will then be carried out by an independent third party who will advise the School’s Assisted Places Committee of the outcome of the assessment. The Assisted Places Committee will consider all applications and once complete, will notify all applicants by August 2023. The Assisted Places Committee comprises the Headmaster, the Bursar and one of the Independent Governors of the School. Please note, as part of the process, applicants must also complete a registration form and submit the registration fee.

S. Anselm’s accepts applications for Assisted Places outside of the Assisted Places Application Window but given the fact that Assisted Places are ordinarily oversubscribed, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to offer any form of Assisted Place outside of our usual application and assessment process.

Assisted Places are effectively funded by full fee paying parents or benefactors and an in depth financial assessment will be carried out as part of the application and assessment process. Some families have made financial decisions that mean that although their annual income is low, employment through a family owned business for instance or sophisticated financial planning means they are still able to enjoy a very comfortable lifestyle with benefits such as expensive holidays and / or luxury cars. The financial circumstances assessment we carry out will therefore look at all these aspects and will incorporate a home visit to the applicants. Evidence of a lifestyle that would ordinarily indicate the ability to pay the full fees will be a significant barrier to success in an Assisted Places application.

All families in receipt of Assisted Places will have their financial circumstances reviewed each year and should their financial circumstances have changed, the Award may be adjusted accordingly.

A child in receipt of an Assisted Place will not be eligible for any other form of Fee Remission (such as Sibling Discount) even if they would ordinarily meet the criteria for such discounts.

For more information on our Policy and Guidelines for Assisted Places, please click here.

Our current Financial Circumstances Form is available for download here. 

Forces Families

S. Anselm’s welcomes applications from both serving and retired members of the Armed Forces.  A discount from the full fees will normally be available but will be subject to rank as well as the completion of an application for an Assisted Place in accordance with our procedures for Assisted Places.

Former Pupils

S. Anselm’s welcomes applications from the families of former pupils of S. Anselm’s. Parents should apply as if for an Assisted Place and make clear that they are a former pupil of the school. This will then be taken into account when assessing the application.