Bursary support transforms lives. We now look to our friends and benefactors to help us further our work with bursaries and to give generously to create and sustain a new generation of Wellensians.
You can also ask your employer about Give As You Earn; for more information or if you have any queries, please contact Wells Cathedral School Foundation by telephoning 01749 834254 or emailing [email protected]
Every year up to 80% of our pupils receive financial support to enable them to attend the school. Through our bursary funding we try to support those wishing to study music and mathematics as specialists, choristers, aspiring athletes and academic all-rounders.
Music – As one of only four specialist music schools in England, we are part of the Government’s Music and Dance Scheme. This means we receive 78 means-tested funded places. This enables us to bring to Wells gifted children from across the country – and increasingly the world – whose family circumstances would put a place at Wells beyond reach. However, competition for these limited places is intense and without additional bursary funding we risk turning away exceptionally talented musicians.
Maths – Our Specialist Mathematicians’ Scheme, is a pioneering programme that provides for the special needs of gifted young mathematicians and is already over-subscribed.
Sports – As part of the school’s curriculum, sport plays an integral role in the students’ lives and many of our pupils compete at county and national levels. It develops key skills in teamwork, negotiation and leadership – values that are central to the school’s ethos and benefit the wider community. We want to continue to offer bursary awards to enable skilled sports students the chance to benefit from our rich sports programme and new leadership courses at the school.
We are fortunate to receive financial donations from a number of key individuals and small trusts who already support our bursary scheme. In Hong Kong, where we have a sister charity, The Wells Music Society of Hong Kong, trustees work tirelessly raising funds for a Hong Kong Scholarship Scheme. This enables children with musical talent to benefit from an education in our music faculty which otherwise their families would never be able to afford.
Music Bursaries – Every year our talented specialist musicians act as ambassadors across the world, showcasing the breadth of musical activity and diversity that the school has to offer. So many of our musicians receive awards to study with us and their own backgrounds and financial circumstances simply do not extend to ‘extras’. The provision of additional funding through our Music Travel Bursaries allows gifted children, as advocates of Wells, to experience a world of difference across the globe.
We have established a fund to help keep Alan and Sheila’s vision for Wells Cathedral School alive. Alan Quilter (Headmaster from 1964 to 1986) forged two significant developments at Wells Cathedral School, which have propelled its success over the following generations.
First, the move to co-education was a pioneering advance for institutions that had relied on single-sex education; secondly the introduction of a specialism – in Wells’ case music – has helped to redefine the school and give it national and international pre-eminence with some national government funding.
We have never looked back.
It was Alan and Sheila’s vision, energy and sheer grit that recreated Wells Cathedral School and made it sustainable. We owe them and their family so much.
Following the dedication of Quilter Hall in February 2017, we have launched the Quilter Family Bursary Appeal in memory of Alan and Sheila. The bursary fund will help provide the opportunity for a local gifted and talented child to enjoy the benefits of an education at Wells, something Alan strived to make a reality. We invite you to remember Alan Quilter by considering making a one-off or regular donation to this special fund.
Wells Cathedral School Foundation: Registered Charity No: 1118159 / Registered Company No. 2804495