Bursary Fund

John Lyon’s Charity gives grants to benefit children and young people up to the age of 25 who live in nine boroughs in North and West London: Barnet, Brent, Camden, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Harrow, Kensington & Chelsea and the Cities of London and Westminster. The Charity distributes around £10-12 million in grants each year.

We are committed to supporting life-changing bursaries for disadvantaged children and young people at both John Lyon’s Foundation schools (Harrow School and The John Lyon School), as well as at Christ’s Hospital School and independent girls’ day schools that are based in the Beneficial Area.   Up to 15% of the Charity’s annual expenditure is allocated as bursaries for young people to attend Harrow School, The John Lyon School, Christ’s Hospital School and independent girls’ day schools that are in the Beneficial Area. 

Bursaries to the Foundation Schools and Christ’s Hospital are made in perpetuity, while girls’ schools make applications for support.  Bursary support is also available via Music Hubs to support children and young people with their musical education and specialist Arts institutions under the Main Grants Fund.  

Bursary Application Process – The rules governing bursaries:

• Grants are awarded to schools for the payment of awards for individuals.
• Eligible candidates must be currently living in the Beneficial Area and have done so for at least two years before the award is made.
• Bursary holders are financially assessed and selected by the school or institution on criteria agreed with the Charity.  Each prospective candidate is presented to the Charity for approval.
• Recipients of John Lyon Bursaries must be means tested and provide evidence that they cannot afford to contribute more than 25% of the school fee.
• All bursaries are subject to the receipt of annual school reports on each bursary holder and confirmation that they are still eligible for support.
• Bursary holders at the Foundation Schools and Christ’s Hospital are eligible to receive additional financial support from John Lyon’s Charity, known as ‘Extras’.

Bursary awards considered under the Bursary Fund are for secondary education (Year 7 – Year 13) only.  Any other bursaries (Arts or Higher Education, for example) are considered under the Main Grants Fund and under the appropriate Programme Area (e.g. Arts & Science or Education & Learning).

John Lyon’s Charity gives grants to benefit children and young people up to the age of 25 who live in nine boroughs in North and West London. To be eligible to apply for a grant, you must: *either be a school, a registred charity or have automatic charitable status, and *work to benefit children and young people in one of the Charity`s nine boroughs.

When applying for a Bursary, we operate a two-stage application process.  Requests for bursary funding are considered at the November meeting of the Trustee for the following September at the latest. Sometimes it will be necessary to consider the request earlier, depending on recruitment of candidates from our Beneficial Area. Please contact the Grants Team well in advance of when you would like bursary funding to commence.