schools competition act
settlement trust
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We receive a lot of requests for information and not all of them polite; a large proportion of the queries we received were answered by information already on the website so please check before contacting us. The great majority of parents and applicants we spoke to or corresponded by email with, and we tried very hard to return all calls and emails, were very nice. A list of the more commonly asked questions we have received. Each question is a link which you can click on to link to the answer. Applications Am I eligible? Can I apply on behalf of my child? How can I make an application? How are successful applications selected? Why was my application rejected? Is my application means tested? Why use random selection? Operations What challenges have you faced? How do you achieve bias towards older applicants? Did you have any fraudulent applications? What happens if a school does not make its contribution? About the trust How can I claim my compensation? Why didn't the trust distribute all its income last year? I attended one of the schools but I'm not in education why can't I apply? How could I have known about the Trust if you didn't write to me? Why have you offered more 2007-08 project awards? Why the emphasis on postgraduate awards in the new programme? How many people are eligible to apply for an award? Why not simply divide the money up between the beneficiaries each year? The Trustees Who are the Trustees and how were they chosen? Are the Trustees paid? Why do they do it? How have the Trustees approached their task? Am I eligible? There are only three basic criteria to be eligible to apply for an award. These have been set out here. Some awards have specific requirements, for example to apply for a postgraduate award you will need to hold or expect to receive an honours degree. Any more specific requirements are described on the relevant awards pages.  Top of page
Can I apply on behalf of my child? Unfortunately not. We had previously accepted applications by parents on behalf of children. We will only accept applications from the beneficiaries themselves. To do otherwise raises a number of practical issues not least the fact that any declarations must be made by the beneficiary directly. Top of page
How can I make an application? Go to the "applying" page using the menu on the left of any SCAST site page. Select the award for which you wish to apply and click on the link. The application can be downloaded by clicking on the Adobe Acrobat icon that follows the award information. If we are not presently accepting applications for an award information is provided about this. Top of page
How are successful applications selected? All applications are reviewed to ensure that they meet the appropriate criteria for the award. In particular, we ask the schools to verify the applicant's attendance. Where the number of applicants exceeds the number of awards available the Trustees will employ random selection in the belief that this represents the fairest and most objective method of selection. The Postgraduate Research Scholarship will be awarded on the basis of declared criteria and interview as set out on the appropriate page. Top of page
Why was my application rejected? Making an application does not grant any right to an award. The only basis for rejecting an application would be incompleteness or invalidity. Otherwise all applications are subject to the random selection procedure and there is no particular reason why an application is not selected. Inevitably, given the limit on available awards, some applicants will be disappointed. Though such a situation has not yet occurred, in exercising their discretion, the Trustees retain the right not to make an award, or withdraw an award made, to an applicant if it is, or becomes, clear from the information provided, on application, or subsequently, that the applicant has ample personal means to enable the proposed study. to be undertaken without the Trust's support. Top of page
Is my application means tested? The Trust Deed is silent on the matter of financial need and applications are not means tested. Never the less the Trustees retain the right not to make an award, or withdraw an award made, to an applicant if it is, or becomes, clear from the information provided, on application, or subsequently, that the applicant has ample personal means to enable the proposed study. to be undertaken without the Trust's support. For the postgraduate awards, the Trustees will wish some comfort that the applicant will be able to complete the proposed course and the application form seeks information accordingly. Applications for assistance based on financial need are subject to a detailed review of the applicant's financial circumstances. Top of page
Why use random selection? The Trust has limited funds and where the number of applications exceeds the number of awards available the Trustees are unable to make an award to each applicant. In these circumstances the Trustees believe that the fairest, most objective and cost effective method of choosing is random selection. Top of page
What other challenges did you face? Generally things have gone well. The on-line application did not work as well as we had wished; but those who experienced difficulties were provided with paper applications; we don't think anyone who wanted to apply was unable to do so. Confirmation of attendance from the applicant's institution has been a bit slow in a small number of cases. Also, a handful of successful applicant's have not responded to our notification of award. Top of page
How do you achieve bias towards older applicants? We achieve this in two ways. First our programme this year is more heavily skewed towards postgraduate study. Second, when selecting undergraduate bursary applicants we first select the "most senior" leaver from each school. Top of page
Did you have any fraudulent applications? We did have one or two funnies. We are confident that no-one has received any money they should not have had. Top of page
What happens if a school does not make its contribution? This is extremely unlikely. All schools are individually covenanted to make their individual payments and are joint and severally liable to make up any shortfall should an individual school fail to make its payment. Top of page
How can I claim my compensation? The Trust was not established to provide compensation. It was formed as a part of the settlement between the relevant schools and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) following an investigation by OFT into a sharing of fee information between certain independent schools. The Trust exists to distribute the proceeds of the settlement for the further education of former pupils of the relevant schools. Distributions must meet the Trust's charitable objectives summarised here. The Trustees have absolute discretion in deciding how to discharge their responsibilities under the Trust Deed. Neither parents nor former pupils have any rights to payment from the Trust. Should you have an issue about how the Trust was created or the OFT investigation please contact Stephen Blake at the OFT on 0207 211 8000. Top of page
Why didn't the trust distribute all its income last year? There is no obligation on the Trust to distribute any particular sums in any given year. Last year was the first year of the Trust's operations and the Trustees had no idea of the likely call on their funds. They decided to take a relatively cautious approach whilst still applying the bulk of their first year's funding in awards rather than, as they could have done, accumulating the capital. The new programme is budgeted to exceed the current year income. Top of page
I attended one of the schools but I'm not in education can't I apply? Our trust deed is widely drawn, however it does not permit Trustees to apply funds other than for furthering applicants education. We are not prescriptive and will be prepared to support applicants following courses at any bona fide educational establishment in the UK or abroad. Our project grants may be used for a variety of purposes including conference attendance, short courses, purchase of books or equipment, and travel. However, if we have any concerns about the educational purpose we will make appropriate enquiries before making an award. Top of page
How was I meant to know about the Trust if you didn't write to me? It was not practical to write to every potential beneficiary. For data protection reasons, your former school would need to have write to you seeking your permission for them to release your name and address to the Trustees. There was no guarantee that address details would have been up to date and it would have been very expensive. We are very conscious of costs as we wish to maximise the amount we make available for distribution. There was widespread publicity of the Trust in the mainstream and educational press in June 2007 around the time when the 2007-08 award programme was launched. Many schools placed links on their main or alumni websites; a small number of schools wrote to former pupils intimating the Trust. Top of page
Why have you offered more 2007-08 project awards? We wanted to give people the opportunity to apply for funds to cover summer school and similar activities so the project awards have been divided up into two tranches. Top of page
Why the emphasis on postgraduate awards in the new programme? Postgraduate study is an area where students often have difficulty in obtaining funding and where the Trust funds can make a big difference to individual applicants. This is also a way of making funds available to those students who left the schools several years ago and have already completed their undergraduate study. Top of page
How many are eligible to apply for an award? Based on figures supplied by the OFT, we estimate that up to 30,000 former pupils may be eligible to apply. OFT's report showed more than 13,500 sixth formers (upper and lower) at relevant schools in January 2004. Assuming these numbers do not vary significantly year on year, the annual cohort of leavers is around 6,800. By June 2008, seven cohorts will have left the schools and be eligible to apply for an award from the Trust; just under 48,000. Three cohorts are likely to have completed their undergraduate education; a proportion of the fourth cohort will be entering their final year in 2008-09 and a proportion of these four cohorts will have entered postgraduate education. With three cohorts in undergraduate education and a proportion of four in postgraduate education, 30,000 is a credible ball park figure for the number of potential beneficiaries. Top of page
Why not simply divide the money up between the beneficiaries each year? Compared with the number of potential beneficiaries the Trust has only modest funds. We calculate that dividing the available funds by the estimated number of beneficiaries would provide a distribution of less than £20 for each beneficiary. The Trustees have decided to make awards of reasonable significance and inevitably some applicants will be disappointed. Top of page
Who are the Trustees and how were they chosen?The trustees were appointed by the Chairman of the OFT after consultation with interested parties and public announcements. Click here for summary biographies of the Trustees. Top of page
Are the Trustees paid? The Trustees are unpaid, independent of the schools and the OFT. Under charities legislation the circumstances in which Trustees may be remunerated are very strictly controlled. Trustees are entitled to be reimbursed their costs, for example traveling to a trustees meeting. None of the Trustees have claimed any of the costs they have incurred in this respect. Top of page
Why do they do it? That is a matter for each Trustee individually. Top of page
How have the Trustees approached their task? Our approach has been based on the Trust deed, (which was prepared by the Schools and the OFT and approved by the Charities Commission) and also on the public announcements made by the OFT about the settlement of the case which emphasised that the arrangements were designed to benefit pupils who had attended the Schools in the period that the fee information exchanges took place. We wish to be open about what we do, objective in our judgements, and by adopting simple and low cost arrangements, maximise the level of funding for the beneficiaries. We have been particularly concerned to be operational quickly so as to be able to offer support for students who left school several years ago and who may be coming towards the end of their studies. Top of page
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© 2007-2008 Schools Competition Act Settlement Trust. The Schools Competition Act Settlement Trust is a registered charity, registration number 1118689.