Why we need your help

The school's historic purpose has been to provide outstanding education for local boys, whatever their family income.  Under the Direct Grant system (1944 until 1979) the Government directly funded places in the school so that the majority of pupils paid no fees at all.  During these years, King Edward's was one of the best schools in the country and provided an education that was truly transformational.

In 1979 the Direct Grant system was abolished and replaced by the Government's Assisted Places Scheme, which only provided means-tested support for about one third of pupils.  In 1997 this also ended.  The days of state funded places for the brightest boys were gone.

Today, funding for Assisted Places comes largely from the Foundation, which contributes over £1 million each year.  In addition, organisations and former pupils have directly funded several pupils through the school.  The result of this is that only about 20% of pupils currently receive some form of financial support and 10% are here for free.

In 2006, the Assisted Places Scheme was radically changed so that many more parents became eligible for financial support.  This has led to a massive increase in the demand for Assisted Places.  However, we do not have the funds to meet this demand.  This year 50 boys who requested Assisted Places passed our examination, but we could only provide funds for 25 of them.  So we are still a long way from being truly accessible to all bright boys.

Our long-term aim is to double the funding of Assisted Places so that 300 boys (40% of pupils) are provided with financial support through the school.  At this point we will satisfy demand and make the school genuinely accessible to all again.

The Assisted Places Fund is launching this year and will help us meet this target by funding new Assisted Places via the collective donations from Old Edwardians.  Our aim for this first year is to raise a regular income that will fund five additional places for boys starting in September 2011.  This is an ambitious target but we believe that, by giving together, Old Edwardians can help us achieve it.