Founding Scholarships 2025
A remarkable opportunity for exceptional young students
INTRODUCTION
Thomas’s College is delighted to announce an extraordinary opportunity. For entry in September 2025, we will be offering unique and one-off Founding Scholarships, on a highly competitive basis, worth 100% of school fees.
These scholarships give the families who secure them the chance to become Founding Donors, supporting our long-term commitment to making future Thomas’s Scholarships permanently available to exceptional applicants on a needs-blind basis.
At a time of pressure for families choosing an independent education, we did not want to wait while we built our needs-blind fund. So we are investing now to support families wishing to take advantage of a remarkable Senior School experience.
Criteria
Founding Scholarships are available in Years 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12 for entry in September 2025. Scholarships in Year 7 will last for five years; in Year 8 for four years; Year 9 for three; in Years 10 and 12 for two years. Founding Scholars in Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 will be able to apply for Thomas’s Scholarships into Sixth Form when their Founding Scholarship concludes.
Scholarships are awarded based on performance in our ground-breaking selection test, which examines playfulness of mind, potential and character, and strongly discourages over-preparation in order to preserve and protect childhood for applicants.
Shared Benefit
All winners of a Founding Scholarship are required to make an annual donation to the Thomas’s Foundation worth 10% of school fees, though families may apply for a means-tested exemption to ensure that Founding Scholarships are themselves needs-blind. Where circumstances allow, families are warmly invited to increase the level of donation to the Foundation up to 100% or more of the value of fees.
This means that the families of each Founding Scholar will help build a fund for needs-blind scholarship provision to support life-changing access to a Thomas’ College education and opportunity for all on a permanent basis.
Founding Board
Founding Scholars will join the Founding Board: a student body advising and supporting the establishment of the school. They have a unique opportunity both to enjoy and to help shape a remarkable education through their school careers.
The Founding Board will continue lifelong as a group within our alumni network to celebrate the unique contribution our Founding Scholars will make to Thomas’s College. We hope this group of pioneering students will remain in contact with each other and benefit in all sorts of ways from their entrepreneurial educational experience, as will all Thomas’s College students. This is our way of widening the Founding Team of the School to include those students who will do so much to shape the school in its first years.
How to apply
Tick the box on the registration form for ‘Founding Scholarship’. If you have already registered your child, please contact the Admissions team via College@thomas-s.co.uk
OTHER FORMS OF SCHOLARSHIP & FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE
Master’s Awards
Alongside our Founding Scholarships, Master’s Awards are made available each year to acknowledge conspicuous passion and potential in sport and the creative and performing arts.
Candidates are invited to register interest in a Master’s Award as part of their application. Those who are successful in the first-round knowledge and skills assessments are invited to submit evidence packs demonstrating their achievements and interests in time for character assessment in January. They may be asked to attend additional interviews, sports trials or auditions.
Master’s Awards attract fee remission of up to 5% to support the chosen discipline. In addition, holders of Awards are given opportunities to act as leaders and ambassadors in their disciplines and develop their passions to the highest level.
How to apply
Tick the box on the registration form for ‘Master’s Award’. If you have already registered your child, please contact the Admissions team via College@thomas-s.co.uk
If your child is invited to the interview in January 2025, you will be asked to submit supporting evidence for the Master’s Award. If your child is applying for a place in the Sixth Form, the deadline to submit the supporting evidence is 18 October, for all other years, the deadline is early January 2025.
Fee Support - Bursaries
In addition to our needs-blind scholarship programme, financial assistance will be available in future years to support access to a Thomas’s College education. The Founding Scholarship Programme should enable us to build a bursary fund at pace to benefit students in future years and provide a means-tested bursary programme.
This assistance will focus on transformational access and typically will be worth around 50%-75% of school fees. Support will be means-tested and reviewed on an annual basis to take account of changing family circumstances. Income, assets and savings will all be assessed as part of means-testing to generate a holistic picture of affordability.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How many Founding Scholarships are available?
Up to 100 scholarships are available across Years 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12.
Why aren’t scholarships available in Year 11?
Because of the nature of qualifications, Year 11 is halfway through a two-year course, and not a point of entry. While some students have already started Year 10 courses at Thomas’s Putney Vale and will be transferring into Thomas’s College, this is not an open assessed entry point so it is not possible to offer a competitive award of this kind.
Are scholarships only available to new applicants?
Scholarships are available to all those considering entry in September 2025, including those who have already signed up for places. Everyone has a fair chance to compete for one of the awards.
Why are Founding Scholarships only available in 2025?
The foundation of a school that we hope will be a positive and influential part of the London educational landscape for centuries is a one-off experience and opportunity and the Founding Scholarships reflect that. From the second year onwards we will be running a means-tested needs-blind scholarship programme to ensure access to a Thomas’s College education for those who will benefit most.
How long do Founding Scholarships last?
While they are only available for award in 2025, Founding Scholarships will last for between two and five years, depending on point of entry. Founding Scholars will be able to apply for Thomas’s Scholarships into Sixth Form when their Founding Scholarships conclude.
How is ‘exceptional’ performance judged?
At Thomas’s College we offer a new and unique entrance process, designed to avoid harmful over-preparation and preserve and protect childhood. Awards will be made based on performance in these assessments, with those already holding places from our former assessment process invited to sit for scholarship consideration only. A sample paper and markscheme is available. Performance will be judged on the basis of information from this test and from all the holistic information we hold on candidates. The process is highly competitive and awards are only made where truly exceptional potential is identified.
Why are those holding Founding Scholarships asked to make a minimum donation worth 10% of school fees?
The Founding Scholarship Programme is designed to place philanthropy and shared benefit at the heart of the Thomas’s College experience. The requirement to donate a minimum of 10% of school fees and, where circumstances allow, to increase this to 100% or more of fees, means that the families of each Founding Scholar will help build a fund for needs-blind scholarship provision to support lifechanging access to a Thomas’ College education and opportunity for all on a permanent basis. However, families may apply for a means-tested exemption from this requirement to ensure that Founding Scholarships are themselves needs-blind.
Why are so many scholarships available?
The scale of this Programme is the result of our success in attracting so much interest in the College. This means that instead of starting with one small year group, we will launch with hundreds of children across years 7-12. This enables us to offer places across the full age range and to offer a programme of real substance that can make a positive difference to the lives of many young people.
TRAVEL
As the College is so well served by public transport, we do not intend to run a bus or coach service. Richmond station is less than 10 minutes from Clapham Junction or Chiswick, less than 20 minutes from Kingston, and 25 minutes from High Street Kensington. Our own electric shuttle buses will transport pupils from the station to the College in less than 10 minutes. The map opposite illustrates the transport connections.
Travel Map
Thank you for your continued interest in the College. We are excited about the pace of the development and the warm reception we have received from families and neighbours. We have a new Instagram account @thomasscollege -please follow us for updates. If you have any questions, please contact us at College@thomas-s.co.uk or 020 7978 0905.