All schools offer scholarships and bursaries in some shape or form, both to ease the pressure and help them attract potentially high-achieving students. A bursary is at best a small contribution when compared to the annual fees of these schools, and is generally a grant paid to those who couldn’t afford it otherwise, to be awarded at the school’s discretion. A scholarship is awarded for high-achievement in academics or extra-curricular activity such as sport or music.Scholarships are a broad spectrum, running all the way from the Eton King’s scholarship (entitling ten boys a year to a fully-funded education, with their own flat and personal butler) to what can really only be described as a small discount. (A one-third discount, which is the highest-level scholarship on offer at one leading London school, still leaves parents with a bill of over £20,000 a year). That isn’t to say that these scholarships aren’t useful or even essential for parents struggling to pay school fees, but do be aware that most scholarships are far from a free ride.