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Top career aspirations for today's primary school children

Primary school children would rather be a YouTube star than a pop singer or actor, a survey backed by University College London and the OECD has found.

A report analyses the responses of over British 13,000 children aged seven to 11 who were asked about their career aspirations.

The fourth most popular answer for youngsters was pursuing a career in “social media and gaming”. Meanwhile, becoming a singer or musician came ninth and pursuing a career as an actor was ranked thirteenth.

The authors of the report, titled Drawing the Future, said their findings showed a “shift in the aspirations of children” which they said is “built largely upon new communication methods and the growth of online and console based gaming”.

The report, which was compiled by the charity Education and Employers, explained why becoming a social media star has rocketed in popularity among children.

“It could be argued that this is due to the growing fame and attraction of YouTube and video blogging stars, who are especially popular among younger audiences,” the report said.

“While it may be argued that this new YouTube based ‘celebrity’ culture may be an issue or problem, these careers - vloggers, professional gamers and game designers - are increasingly valid career options for children and young people.”

Read more at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2018/01/19/revealed-top-career-aspirations-todays-primary-school-children/

How to get a bursary if you can't afford the fees at an independent school

Private school fees are rising, pricing many families out of the market, but every year around a third of children who go to a private school pay reduced fees or even nothing at all.

Day school fees often exceed £15,000 a year, with the cost of a seven-year secondary education topping £100,000. Boarding school fees are typically double that.

However, around £900m was handed out in bursaries and scholarships last year to pupils at schools represented by the Independent Schools Council. Awareness of this funding is so low that a number of schools say they don’t hand out all the cash they have available each year.

At ISC schools, around a third get some financial help, but of this a sizeable proportion receive modest discounts based on having siblings at the school or for families in the Armed Forces. However, 44,000 receive means-tested scholarships and bursaries and 56,000 receive non-means-tested.

Read more at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/cant-afford-private-school-one-family-got-330000-education-free/