Fees & Bursaries


The Yehudi Menuhin School is an independent school and, as such, receives no direct funding from the UK government. It therefore relies on the fees it receives, either from parents or in the form of bursaries, to cover its annual running costs.


Eligibility for bursaries

The Yehudi Menuhin School is an independent school and, as such, receives no direct funding from the UK government. It therefore relies on the fees it receives, either from parents or in the form of bursaries, to cover its annual running costs. The full boarding fee (2023/24) is £46,929 per annum and for day pupils £45,719. This fee includes the cost of all tuition (academic and musical), all boarding and meals, and participation in all concert tours organised by the School.

Generous financial assistance, from the Department of Education (DfE) under the Music and Dance Scheme, towards the cost of fees may be available for children who have been resident in the UK for at least two full calendar years (January to December) before the year in which the place is taken up. This assistance is measured according to a sliding scale linked to family income. In order to be eligible for the scheme in September 2023, the student must have been resident in the UK from 1st January 2021 to 31st December 2022.

Under current DfE rules, overseas pupils who have been resident in the UK, or have been boarding pupils at the School, for two full calendar years or more are also eligible for a grant under the Scheme.

The DfE has allocated to the School a maximum of 61 government-aided places at any one time. However, the School is fortunate in having a significant number of donors and benefactors, both past and present, whose generosity has enabled it to award its own bursaries to successful applicants for whom no government-aided place is available or who are not yet eligible for the Scheme under the residency rule.

School-funded bursaries are awarded after the assessment of a separate bursary application form. It may therefore fall to parents to search for additional support from their own governments, individual sponsors, or other charitable sources.

How MDS bursaries are calculated

Parental contribution towards fees is assessed solely by reference to pre-tax (gross) family income from all sources, including any unearned income of dependent children. No deductions are made in respect of allowances for tax purposes, specifically those for personal allowances, pension contributions, or donations made direct to charities or covenants; nor is any allowance made for outgoings such as mortgage payments and cost of everyday living expenses. However, an allowance is made against income for each dependent child (other than the Aided Pupil) or other dependent relative in the household (for 2022/23 £2,156).

The amount of assistance provided is reviewed annually and parents are required to give details of their income every year to enable their contribution towards fees to be reassessed. For this purpose they complete the DfE form MD1, supplied by the Bursar, and must provide documentary evidence as requested. The level of their contribution is then calculated by the School in accordance with DfE regulations, verified by the School's auditors, and finally approved by the DfE (who also approve the level of fees charged). Parents are billed termly for one third of their annual contribution, to be paid in advance at the beginning of each term.

The thresholds below which fees are fully remitted are set deliberately low so that the least well-off families benefit the most. Figures applicable to 2022/23 are as follows:

A pupil whose parents have a relevant gross income of under £13444 in the tax year 2022/23 is eligible for a free place (£16984 for day pupils). If gross income exceeds £13444 then a proportion is payable on an increasing scale up to the full fees: the higher the income, the greater the parental contribution. The DfE then meets the balance of the approved fees for Aided Pupils after any parental contribution has been calculated.

As a guide, some examples of the annual parental contribution for 2022/23 for boarders are given below:

Relevant Income Annual Parent Contribution
£15,000 £93
£20,000 £567
£30,000 £1,809
£40,000 £3,279
£50,000 £4,938
£60,000 £6,846
£70,000 £8,766
£80,000 £10,776
£100,000 £14,964
£150,000 £25, 515
£200,000 £36,066
£250,000 £46,614
£275,000 Full Fees

Further details of the Music and Dance Scheme are available from the Bursar (bursar@menuhinschool.co.uk).