NMS Foundation
“Such Opportunities are often just a dream for families like ours.”
A Message From Our Founding Patron
I am delighted to introduce The New Model School Foundation to a wider audience.
The establishment of this Foundation is a natural progression from the original aim of The New Model School Company (NMS), which in 2004 was to set up schools that would provide an excellent affordable primary education, so that as many children as possible could benefit.
Twenty years on, NMS has two award winning schools and the Company’s Not for Profit ethos means that their fees remain some of the lowest in London. However these lower fees still remain out of reach for most household budgets.
The Foundation’s aim is to raise funds for bursaries to expand access to our schools at the 7+ stage and give the opportunity of an NMS education to a broader spectrum of families. By supporting our initiative you will help us give chances to committed families whose children have the potential to thrive at our schools.
Thank you.
David Jones
Founding Patron
The Importance of Bursaries
Prior to the establishment of our charitable Foundation, NMS has been fortunate to receive bursary funding from generous individuals which was used to support pupils already at our schools whose families experienced unexpected difficulties. However, we were not able to provide fully funded places until 2019 when the very generous support of the Fishmongers’ Livery Company has enabled us to offer a fully funded bursary place at Faraday School for each year since then for a child joining in year three. Nine children have benefitted from this award to date.
These bursaries have encouraged children with ability, imagination and drive to thrive at our schools, and inspired their friends, their families, and the wider community. Bursaries increase social mobility, inclusion and diversity. This has a beneficial effect on all pupils, broadening their outlook, and preparing them for secondary school, and life beyond.’
“My son and I are extremely grateful for the opportunity for him to attend Faraday Prep School. Faraday is a close-knit community that has welcomed my son with open arms. With smaller class sizes, teachers can closely monitor each student’s academic and social development. I believe my son has excelled academically since joining the school. He started playing the piano and is now preparing to take his Grade 1 exam. He also enjoys the after-school clubs on Mondays and Thursdays, which focus on 11+ Maths and English. He chose to participate in these clubs completely on his own initiative, and he is only 8 years old.”
-Current awardee parent, 2024-2028
How You Can Help
There are various ways in which you can help us in this initiative.
By pledging to give an annual fixed amount over 4 years (the period an awardee would attend one of our schools) or with a one off donation.
Fees to be paid for by bursary funds do not attract VAT and this means that coupled with our lower fees your donation can go further.
To illustrate the effect of regular giving over a 4 year period (assuming all donations attract Gift Aid) to fund a bursary place for one year.
“My daughter’s award of a bursary also was a turning point for myself – as I thought if she could attend an excellent school with a hugely creative learning environment- why couldn’t I? So I applied and was awarded my own bursary to be a (very) mature student at Guildhall School of Music and Drama – and now I have world class theatre Production Arts degree and am at the cusp of a whole new and exciting career. Small seeds grow in weird and wonderful ways.”
-Farah, Parent of awardee
If you wish to support the Foundation and it’s aims by way of introductions to donors and organisations please email Jane Hale on donations@nmsfoundation.org.uk
At the moment NMS has two types of bursaries,
1.Short term assistance.
We support families with a child/children at one of our schools who unexpectedly encounter financial difficulties.
We have limited funds to do this and depend on support from several generous individuals. All applications are means tested.
2. The Fishmongers’ Faraday Award
This award provides a fully funded place for a child joining the school from Year 3 from a state school and is in place for the four years of their primary education. All applicants are means tested and the candidates spend a day at the school for assessments and short listed candidates return for an interview with their parents.
It is this model of bursary that the Foundation wishes to raise funds for as it benefits families who would otherwise not be able to attend our schools.
A fully funded bursary covers the annual fees (ex VAT) plus an additional amount to cover uniform, some extra curricular activities and residential trips.
At 2025-26 fee levels this amounts to circa £16,200.
To meet this cost, the Foundation would need to receive annual pledges totalling £12,960 for one child. This figure assumes that the Foundation can claim 25% gift aid on the amount. It should also be noted that if the donor(s) are higher rate tax payers they can claim back from HMRC a further 20% or 25% on the gross amount of the donation.
A child joining in Year 3 would remain at our schools until Year 6, and so we would want to secure these annual pledges for four years in total, before offering a bursary to a child so that the rest of their primary education can be assured.
To ensure awardees benefit from the whole school experience, bursaries cover the cost of fees, uniform, clubs and residential trip.
We currently have four pupils in receipt of the Fishmongers’ Faraday Award.
Two Ukrainian children, who are educated free of charge by NMS and four pupils across the two schools with financial support of between 25% and 80%. This represents 4% of all pupils.
New Model School Foundation
Unit 1205,BuspaceStudios, Conlan Street, LondonW10 5AP
Registered Charity Number 1208672
