Apply for free school meals and School Clothing Grant

Free School Meals 

Pupils are eligible for free school meals if they attend an Aberdeen City Council school and their parents or carers receive one of the following benefits:

  • Income Support
  • Income-based Job Seeker’s Allowance
  • Pension Credit (Guarantee Credits)
  • Any income related element of Employment and Support Allowance
  • Child Tax Credit, but not Working Tax Credit, with an income of less than £18,725
  • Both Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit with an income of up to £8,717
  • Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
  • Universal Credit with a monthly earned income of not more than £726
  • Universal Credit, with a single parent/carer working less than 16 hours per week with an annual earned income from employment of less than £18,725
  • Universal Credit, with both parents/carers working less than 24 hours per week with an annual earned income from employment of less than £18,725

Pupils are eligible for free school meals in their own right if they are between 16-18 and fall into any of these categories.

All pupils in P1 to P5 receive free school meals when in school. 

Where a child is in P1 to P5 and parents meet the eligibility criteria above, the parent should apply for Free School Meals in order to receive vouchers during holiday periods. 

Free School Meal Vouchers

School Clothing Grant

You can apply for a school clothing grant if you or your family receive any of these benefits:

  • Income Support 
  • Income-based Job Seeker's Allowance (JSA)
  • Any income related element of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
  • Child Tax Credit (CTC), but not Working Tax Credit, and your annual income is less than £18,725
  • Both maximum Child Tax Credit and maximum Working Tax Credit and your annual income is under £8,717
  • Universal Credit, and your monthly earned income is not more than £726
  • Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
  • Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Reduction

You can only apply for children attending school or about to enter Primary 1. If you are an eligible student who receives an Education Maintenance Allowance you can apply for a school clothing grant for yourself. Applications for session 2023/2024 can be made from 1 April 2023. 

You can only apply for children attending school or about to enter Primary 1. If you are an eligible student who receives an Education Maintenance Allowance you can apply for a school clothing grant for yourself. Applications for session 2023/2024 can be made from 1 April 2023 and will be paid from the beginning of May 2023. 

You can apply for a school clothing grant online. Before you apply online, you will need to set up an account. This is so you can track the progress of your application.
 

Apply for free school meals and School Clothing Grant

You can apply for free school meals online. You will need to provide evidence of the benefit/s that you receive. 

You must provide evidence of the qualifying benefit each year in April. If you stop claiming the benefits you must notify the school. If you receive a free school meal to which you are not entitled, you may be asked to pay the money back.

All families currently receiving free school meals, who were awarded the benefit before 1st April 2023, must complete a new application for free school meals, to renew their entitlement and update their details. 

For more information, please see the frequently asked questions below.

Frequently asked questions

You can apply for a school clothing grant once per child in any financial year i.e. between 1 April and 31 March.

The grant will be paid into a bank account which accepts BACS payments.

When applying for the clothing grant you will need to show proof of benefit received as stated in the application.

You may also be eligible for free school meals and free school transport. Students staying on at secondary school for 5th and 6th year can apply for an Education Maintenance Allowance. The Scottish Government offer a Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods including the School Age Payment, for further information and to apply please visit the Scottish Government website.

Please email customerapplications@aberdeencity.gov.uk 

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