Classic form
Bursary application form built around financial need
A bursary committee is comparing families it has never met, using figures that arrive in six different formats. This fourteen field application asks for income as a band, circumstances as a tick list and a statement, and pins the whole decision to two uploads that every family can actually produce.
The form itself
A static copy of the finished form, exactly as it renders. Nothing here can be filled in or submitted, so read it as a reference and build your own from the button above.
Every field, and what it collects
The complete field list, in the order respondents meet it.
- Student full nameShort textRequired
- Year level the bursary is forDropdownRequired
- Options: Year 5 · Year 6 · Year 7 · Year 8 · Year 9 · Year 10 · Year 11 · Year 12
- Current status at the schoolSingle choiceRequired
- Options: Already enrolled here · Offered a place for next year · Applying for a place and a bursary together · Sibling is enrolled here, student is not yet
- Your full name and relationship to the studentShort textRequired
- EmailShort textRequired
- MobileShort textRequired
- Combined gross household income last financial yearSingle choiceRequired
- Options: Under 60,000 · 60,000 to 89,999 · 90,000 to 119,999 · 120,000 to 149,999 · 150,000 to 199,999 · 200,000 or more
- Dependent children in the household, including this studentNumberRequired
- Circumstances that apply to your householdMultiple choiceRequired
- Options: A parent has lost work in the last 12 months · A parent or child has a long term illness or disability · The household holds a health care card or pensioner concession card · Separation, divorce or bereavement in the last 24 months · Sole parent household · Carer responsibilities outside the household · A significant one off cost such as a medical event or a fire · None of these apply
- Your circumstances, in your own wordsLong textRequired
- Financial evidenceFile uploadRequired
- Last year notice of assessment for every adult in the household, plus two recent payslips or a business profit and loss. Concession card holders may attach the card instead of payslips. PDF or images, up to 10 MB each.
- Most recent school reportFile uploadRequired
- The full report, not a transcript summary. One file, PDF or an image of every page.
- DeclarationMultiple choiceRequired
- Options: The financial information I have given is true and complete · I will tell the school if our circumstances improve materially before the award is made · I understand a bursary is reviewed each year and is not guaranteed for the rest of the student schooling
- Parent or guardian signatureSignatureRequired
The student
The parent or guardian applying
Household finances
Evidence
Declaration
What each block of this application collects
The student block is three fields, and the third one matters more than it looks: a family applying for a place and a bursary at the same time is a different case from an enrolled family whose circumstances have changed, and the committee reads them on different timelines. The guardian block is a name with the relationship written into the same field, plus an email and a mobile. The finance block opens with a paragraph defining combined gross household income, because that single definition removes most of the variance in the answers, then takes an income band, a dependants count and a circumstances tick list that ends in none of these apply so the field can be required. The statement is the only long answer and the placeholder caps it at around three hundred words. Evidence is two separate uploads, finance and school report, so a missing report does not hide inside a pile of PDFs.
The Australian pieces on this form
The income paragraph names the notice of assessment as the source figure, which is the document Australian families can find and which makes the six bands comparable across households. The circumstances list names the health care card and the pensioner concession card explicitly, because holding one is a fast and reliable signal of need and because those families can attach the card instead of payslips, which the evidence upload description says. Income bands are written in plain dollars without a currency symbol since every applicant is local, and the closing tick notes that a bursary is reviewed each year, which reflects how most Australian independent schools actually administer them.
How to adapt this form
A school awarding on merit as well as need adds a second statement field about the student contribution to the school and a music or sport audition date dropdown, and leaves the finance block untouched so the two decisions stay separable. A system of schools taking one central application replaces the year level dropdown with a school and year pair and adds a preference order question. A school that means tests through an external assessor cuts both uploads and replaces them with a single reference number field, which shortens the form to eleven fields and moves the evidence burden to the assessor portal where it belongs.
What makes this form work
The income definition sits above the bands
One paragraph says combined gross household income means every contributing adult before tax, including business income, rent and government payments, and points at the notice of assessment. Two families in the same position then pick the same band, which is the only thing that makes six bands worth having.
Circumstances is a tick list ending in none of these apply
Eight options cover job loss, illness, a concession card, separation, sole parenting, carer duties and a one off cost, and the last one lets a family in plain need answer a required question honestly. The committee gets structured flags instead of hunting through three hundred words of prose.
Evidence is two uploads, not one
Financial documents and the school report are separate fields with separate descriptions, one taking up to six files and the other up to four. An application missing the report is obvious immediately, rather than being found in July when the committee sits.
Questions people ask
Why ask for an income band instead of an exact figure?
Because an exact figure invites rounding, guessing and arguments about what counts. A band forces one clear decision, it is easy to compare across families, and it is checked anyway against the notice of assessment in the evidence upload. The paragraph above the bands defines the figure so that two families in the same position pick the same band.
What documents does a bursary application need?
Last financial year notice of assessment for every adult in the household, plus two recent payslips or a business profit and loss, and the most recent full school report. Concession card holders can attach the card instead of payslips. Keeping the report in its own upload field means an incomplete application is visible at a glance.
Who reads a bursary application?
The bursar and the committee, and the paragraph above the declaration says so. The application is kept apart from the student academic file, is not shared with teaching staff or with the student, and is destroyed two years after the decision. Families disclose more, and more accurately, when the retention and the readership are stated up front.
Does a bursary continue for the rest of the student schooling?
Not automatically, and the third declaration tick makes sure nobody assumes otherwise. Most schools review an award each year against the same income and circumstances test, and a household that recovers may see the award reduced or ended. The second tick asks families to say so if their position improves before the decision, which is the same principle applied earlier.
Can a family apply for a bursary and a place at the same time?
Yes, and the status question has an option for exactly that. The two decisions run in parallel: the enrolment office assesses the place and the bursary committee assesses need, and neither waits for the other. A family in that position should still meet the 30 June closing date named in the introduction.
What should the circumstances statement actually say?
What changed, when it changed and what a bursary would make possible. The placeholder says around three hundred words, which is enough for a clear account and short enough that the committee reads every one. Detail about the household finances belongs in the evidence upload rather than in the statement, which is read for context.
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