Stowe School Scholarships: A Complete Guide for Parents

Stowe School offers an unusually broad range of 13+ scholarships, from academics and music to art, drama, design, chess and the Roxburgh all-rounder award. Understanding what each involves, how it is won, and how scholarships differ from means-tested bursaries is the first step for any family considering this route. This guide explains the awards and how they sit alongside Stowe's bursary programme.

Scholarships versus bursaries

The first thing to understand is that a scholarship and a bursary are different things. A scholarship is awarded on merit, in recognition of ability in a particular area. At Stowe a typical scholarship is worth around 5 per cent of fees, with more awarded for exceptional candidates, so the value lies as much in recognition and opportunity as in the discount itself. A bursary is means-tested financial support, awarded on a family's circumstances rather than a child's talent, and it is the route that matters most if affordability is your central concern. The two are not mutually exclusive: where genuine need exists, a child can hold a scholarship alongside a bursary. Our Stowe fees guide explains how bursaries fit into the overall cost.

Academic scholarships

Stowe's academic scholarship has one of the fuller assessment processes of any award. Candidates sit papers in English, Maths and Science, with additional papers in subjects such as Humanities, Classics, French or Spanish, and they also write the Head's Essay. Beyond the written work, there is an interview with the Head, the Deputy Head (Academic) or the Head of Lower School, and a Philosothon, which is a structured philosophical discussion designed to see how candidates think and reason together. This combination tells you what Stowe values in its academic scholars: not just exam performance, but genuine intellectual curiosity and the ability to think aloud and engage with ideas.

Because the academic route is more demanding than the standard assessment, it suits children who are genuinely strong academically and ready to be stretched. For a strong but not scholarship-level child, the standard route is the right path, and there is no disadvantage in taking it.

Music, art, drama, design and chess

Beyond the academic award, Stowe offers scholarships in music, art, drama, design and even chess, which is a wider spread than most schools. Each recognises real ability and commitment in its area and is assessed accordingly: a performance and discussion for music and drama, a portfolio and practical work for art and design, and play and discussion for chess. A child with a genuine strength in one of these areas should consider the relevant scholarship, both for the recognition it brings and for the opportunities and support that come with it. Our guide to music scholarships at UK schools sets out how music awards work more broadly across schools.

The Roxburgh all-rounder award

Stowe also offers the Roxburgh Award, named after the school's founding headmaster, which recognises children who excel across several areas rather than in a single discipline. It suits the child who is academically able and also a strong musician, sportsperson, artist or contributor to school life. For families whose child does not fit neatly into one scholarship category but is genuinely talented across the board, the Roxburgh Award is well worth considering, and it reflects the rounded, contributing pupil that Stowe particularly values.

Means-tested bursaries

For families whose central concern is meeting the fee, the bursary programme is the route that matters. Stowe's bursaries are means-tested and assessed on a family's financial circumstances rather than a child's academic results. The school treats bursary applications confidentially, and a child can be both recognised with a scholarship and supported with a bursary at the same time. Our overview of school bursaries and scholarships explains how the wider funding landscape works across the leading schools.

Which award to pursue

With so broad a range of awards, families sometimes wonder which one to aim for, and the honest answer is to follow your child's genuine strength rather than the award that sounds most impressive. A child who is clearly strongest academically should aim for the academic scholarship, with its fuller and more searching assessment; one whose real gift is musical, artistic, theatrical or in chess is better served by the relevant specialist award, where they compete on the ground they know best. The Roxburgh Award exists precisely for the child who does not sit neatly in one category but contributes genuinely across several. Trying to force a child toward an award that does not match their talents tends to disappoint, whereas matching the award to where a child genuinely excels gives them both the best chance and the most rewarding preparation. If you are unsure where your child's strongest case lies, an honest conversation with their current teachers, who see them across subjects and activities, is often the most useful starting point.

Preparing for a scholarship

Preparation for a Stowe scholarship depends on the award, but a few principles hold across all of them. The academic scholarship rewards genuine depth and the ability to think and discuss, so the best preparation is wide reading, secure fundamentals and practice in talking through ideas, rather than last-minute cramming. The Philosothon in particular rewards a child who is comfortable reasoning aloud with others, which is built over time rather than drilled. The music, art, drama, design and chess awards reward sustained development in the discipline itself, built through good teaching and consistent practice well before the assessment. In every case, an honest assessment of where your child genuinely stands is worth a great deal, because a scholarship is won by children who are already exceptional in their area, and recognising that early lets you prepare in a way that builds on real strength rather than manufacturing it.