All Caymanian students in one of the three Government high schools are provided with a free education up until the end of secondary school (Year 12).
However, The Department of Education, through the Scholarship Secretariat, have made certain financial/scholarship provisions available to families of Caymanian high school students who have qualified to enter a private institution to take A Levels, a BTEC Level 3 Extended course, AP or CAPE courses or the IB. Any student who leaves one of the government high schools to enter a private school (or ICCI or UCCI) is given what is called ‘Dual-Entry’. This simply means that these students are tracked through to the end of Year 12.
A Level Students
If a Caymanian government high school student has the qualifying grades and is formally accepted into the A Level programme at either Cayman Prep & High School (CPHS) or St. Ignatius Catholic School, the student can get funding towards tuition, books, examination fees and meals for each of the two A Level years. Students need to apply to the Scholarship Secretariat for the funding, and they must have Dual Enrolment approval from the Department of Education Services. Parents need to be prepared to pay for other incidentals, including Parent Teacher Association (PTA) fees and uniforms. To qualify for the aforementioned financial assistance, students need to have achieved a minimum of five IGCSE/GCSE/CXC (PE and Life Skills cannot count towards the five) passes at grade C or higher, and have passed English and Mathematics. To qualify for funding in the second year of the course, students must achieve a minimum of three C grades in their AS Level exams at the end of the first year of their A Level course. Any money received from the Scholarship Secretariat is paid directly to the school and cannot be used for uniforms or any other incidentals. The financial information requirement (means testing) for the local scholarship application has been removed. Hence, employment letters and other financial details are no longer required to be submitted with the application.
Some children also leave Cayman at age 16 and go to England to take A Levels or a BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma at a Sixth Form college or a boarding school (state or private). In the UK state school system (government schooling), if a child has a British passport, they are ‘fee-free’ until they turn 19 years of age. The Scholarship Secretariat will contribute up to the equivalent of the local tuition amount towards the student’s tuition, living expenses, if attending a boarding school, but only if the A Level/BTEC is not available locally. (Scholarship funding is not provided if the student is attending a regular public high school A Level programme which has no fees).
Caymanian students who have attended a private school in Cayman, and have been accepted into the A Level programme, having achieved a minimum of five IGCSE/GCSE/CXC passes at grade C or higher, including English and Maths, can also apply for assistance with the fees for their A Level course. On achieving a successful application, these students can get financial assistance towards tuition, books, examination fees and meals for each of the two years of their A Level course. Students must have achieved three C grades in their AS Levels to get funding for their second year
Check the scholarship information page on https://moescholarships.gov.ky/ for further details. The application period for local scholarship funding is 1st March to 30th April. Late applications will not be considered.
Associate’s Degree Students
If a Caymanian government high school student chooses to finish their secondary education by doing an Associate’s Degree at UCCI or ICCI then they can apply for a local scholarship. However, all students who have not achieved either an A or B grade in English and Maths are mandated to take remedial Maths and English at college level, as well as college skill classes and career classes.
The Associate's Degree takes about 2.5 years at UCCI (with 68 credits), 18 months at ICCI (which is a quarter-term institution) and you will graduate with an Associate’s Degree worth 90 college credits.
BTEC Diploma Students
The government high schools in Cayman offer BTEC Level 1 and 2 courses, and CIFEC offers the same, plus the first year (only) of the BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma. For students to complete their Level 3 diploma, which is considered the equivalent of getting three A-levels, they will need to go to England to take the second year. To qualify for an overseas undergraduate scholarship, students taking the BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma will need to finish the two-year course with a minimum grade of triple merit (MMM). CIFEC currently offers two BTEC Level 3 Extended Diplomas in Creative Media Film and TV, and Business. However, these are only offered to Certificate level (equivalent to AS-levels), since you can only attend CIFEC for one year, and to reach Diploma level, you would have had to complete a two-year course.
AP, CAPE and IB Students
Previously, two-year funding was offered for A-level and BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma students in their second year but this now extends to first-year students in the International Baccalaureate (IB), the Advanced Placement (AP) and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE). Scholarship funding is therefore now available to Caymanian students who are going into their first and/or second year of studying AP, CAPE and IB.
For far more information, visit the Scholarship Secretariat's website.
GPA – Grade Point Average
A GPA of 4.0 is the equivalent of an A, 3.5 GPA is the equivalent of a B+, 3.0 GPA is the equivalent of a B and a 2.0 GPA is the equivalent of a C. To qualify for an overseas scholarship to attend university, the student must finish with a GPA of at least 3.0 or 3 x A Levels at C grade.
Note on University Entry Requirements
For those students wanting to go to university, it is worth them checking the entry criteria at a few different universities to get a clear idea of where they need to aim. The universities will clearly outline what subjects they require you to have taken at A Level (or its equivalent) and what results they require for you to be considered for entry to the course.
Documents Required for Secondary School Funding
- A completed application form
- Official high school or college transcript (final transcripts may be uploaded after closing date)
- Birth Certificate and Status letter/Right to be Caymanian certificate
- Letter of Acceptance (may be uploaded after closing date)
- Personal Statement (to include why you are deserving of a scholarship, how you plan to use that A Level, what you intend to do with it, how it will be beneficial to the community)
- Cover Letter
- One passport-sized photograph