School scholarships: the basics

Who can apply

Students aged 13-18 years old looking to start or continue secondary school studies who are nationals of and ordinarily resident in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, or Zambia.

Selection criteria

• Academic excellence
  Grades in the top 10% of year group.
• Achievement in sports, music, or drama
  Certification of outstanding achievement.
• Social influence and communication skills
  Have held positions of responsibility, demonstrating confidence and leadership.
• Citizenship
  Tangible evidence of community service and involvement.
• English proficiency
  Able to converse fluently and write proficiently in English.
• Financial need
  Can demonstrate financial disdvantage within the scholarship eligibility threshhold.
• Potential to contribute fully to school life
  Keen to get involved in societies, clubs and other activities, and galvanise others.
• Intention to return home to a leadership role
  Ambitious to change policies and processes in home country, and contribute to its development.
• Changemaker qualities
  Can demonstrate the capacity to seek change and to lead, inspire, and take others with them.

The scholarship covers two-thirds of tuition fees (and boarding fees where applicable) for a Beacon Scholar. Recipients must open an Education Fund bank account and maintain a minimum balance in it.

Selection process

1. Nomination by your current school head.
2. Application form with supporting documents.
3. Interview and assessment workshop.

Deadline: Nominations and Applications are currently open.

School fees

School fees for young people with leadership potential are split three ways: 1/3 Beacon Partner School, 1/3 Parents, 1/3 The Beacon Equity Trust (BET).  Parents are means-tested to ensure financial need. Gross Household Income (GHI) should be below $80k per annum. Applicants must re-apply every year for continuation.

Assessment

Scholarship awards are made on the strength of four key leadership criteria:

1. Academic performance
   Candidates need to be in the top 10% of their peer group.
2. Extracurricular achievement
   Evidence of excellence in sport, music or drama.
3. Social influence and communication
   Popularity amongst peers, and the ability to motivate others.
4. Citizenship
   Selfless contribution to local communities or civic groups.

Following a Beacon Scholarship award, scholars continue to be rigorously assessed and monitored against these four leadership criteria.

Mentoring

Partner Schools are expected to provide a mentor for each scholar, and guide scholars to set targets in each of the leadership criteria using a framework called a ‘Target Sheet’.

Progress against goals in the Target Sheets are reviewed and approved four times a year by Beacon Target Sheet Mentors (TSMs).

Information from Target Sheets is used to compile a Summary Performance Evaluation (SPE) at the end of every academic year, which includes guidance for leadership development and setting targets for the next academic year.

Annual scholar reviews

The Beacon Equity Trust conducts annual reviews of scholar progress to assess scholarship renewal. These reviews take into consideration:

• Target Sheets
  Evaluation of progress against self-set goals.
• School Reports
  Academic performance and engagement.
• Leadership Programme Performance Feedback
  Participation and personal growth and development in the Beacon Leadership Programme.
• Disciplinary Record
  Includes breaches of either school or Beacon Codes of Conduct

Annual renewal

Parents/Sponsors must apply annually for scholarship renewal by the Closing Date for Scholarship Continuation.

Financial requirements

• Disclose changes
  Parents/sponsors must report any material changes in financial circumstances since the initial award. For changes in circumstances or new educational stages, a fresh Financial Disclosure is required.
• Fee renegotiation
  Significant improvements in financial circumstances may lead to renegotiation of fee proportions.
• Education Fund
  A condition of Continuation is the establishment and maintenance of an Education Fund.
• Pre-payment
  Pre-payment of the parental/sponsor share of fees from the Education Fund to the scholar’s school is required before the Closing Date for Scholarship Continuation Applications.
• Bank statement
  A bank statement evidencing pre-payment must be submitted annually.

Sponsored scholars:
Two years’ fees must be held in the Education Account.

Scholarship withdrawal

The Beacon Equity Trust reserves the right to withdraw a Beacon Scholarship in the event of:

• Repeated failure to meet key leadership and performance targets.
• Improved financial circumstances of the scholar’s family.
• Failure to provide required documentation, such as bank statements.
• Failure to adhere to the terms and conditions of the scholarship.