Families on low incomes may be eligible to receive free school meals and milk for their children. There are also grants available to help towards the cost of school clothing.
Applications for the 2024/2025 academic year can now be accepted.
Families in receipt of the following will be eligible for a School Clothing Grant:
Income Support / Pension Credit
Income-based Jobseekers' Allowance
Any Income-Related element of Employment and Support Allowance
Working Tax Credit and/or Child Tax Credit with an annual income of £18,725 or less (amount will rise to £19,995 for the 2024/2025 academic year)
Universal Credit where your "monthly earned income" is not more than £1,560 (amount will rise to £1,666 for the 2024/2025 academic year)
Council Tax Reduction through financial assessment (not to be confused with Council Tax Discount)
Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
Families in receipt of the following will be eligible for Free School Meals & Milk (eligibility criteria updated 01 April 2024):
Income Support / Pension Credit
Income-based Jobseekers' Allowance
Any Income-Related element of Employment and Support Allowance
Child Tax credit (but not Working Tax Credit) with an annual income of £19,995 or less
Both Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit with an annual income of £9,552 or less
Universal Credit where your "monthly earned income" is not more than £796
Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
All children in primary 1 to primary 5will receive automatic universal free school lunches, regardless of financial circumstances, however families who are in receipt of the above benefits should complete an application to ensure their child receives free milk and a clothing grant. All children in nursery are also entitled to automatic universal free school lunches but are not entitled to a school clothing grant. An application is not required for children at nursery.
Free school lunches came into effect from 16 August 2021 for nursery pupils, and primary 5 pupils were included from 06 January 2022.
How to apply
If you require help completing an application you can email the Families and Young Peoples Advice Service fypas@westlothian.gov.uk who would be happy to assist.
Applications can be made by completing our online form. You may need to send us evidence of your benefits to support your application. If tax credits is your qualifying benefit, please note that an application should not be submitted until you are able to provide pages 1 to 4 of a new tax credit award notice or annual review from HMRC. This is because we need to see a confirmed household income for the 2023/2024 financial year.
Emails from Education Benefits and school Group Call texts will be sent to parents, as a reminder to apply, however applications can be made at any time.
If you are having any issues with our online form please email EducationBenefits@westlothian.gov.uk Alternatively you can speak to staff in your child's school office for assistance.
Free school meals are provided to all pupils who attend the following schools;
Beatlie School Campus, Cedarbank School, Pinewood School, Connolly School Campus and Ogilvie School Campus. Pupils attending any of West Lothian's autism resources will also receive free school meals.
Parents in receipt of qualifying benefits, whose children attend the above schools, should complete an application to apply for a school clothing grant.
If you are having any issues with our online form email EducationBenefits@westlothian.gov.uk Alternatively you can speak to staff in your child's school office for assistance.
Please note: you cannot apply for a School Clothing Grant for home educated children
Application Process
We aim to assess all applications within 2 weeks of receipt and we will notify you of our decision by email. However, we may require extra time to assess if demand is high, this is usually between June and the schools returning in August. If your child has been granted free school meals and milk their school will be automatically advised. Normally, clothing grants will be paid into your specified bank account within 7 days of our assessment.
How much clothing grant will I receive?
The current grants are £150 for each primary school aged pupil and £180 for pupils of secondary school age.
Students staying at school over the school leaving age will not be eligible for a clothing grant however they may apply for EMA payments Education Maintenance Allowance
Meal payments during the October 2024 school holidays
A payment of £3 per day per child will be paid for any child in P1 to P5 who received a School Clothing Grant or children in P6 and above if the child is in receipt of Free School Meals due to low income. The payment is made into the same bank account the School Clothing Grant was paid into unless you have told us otherwise. A payment of £18 per child will be made into bank accounts on Friday 04 October 2024 to cover the period from 14 October to 21 October 2024.
