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Thousands of parents getting £200 free cash help for school uniforms

You could get up to £200 toward school uniform costs if you're on a low income, claiming benefits or receiving free school meals.

You could get up to £200 toward school uniform costs if you're on a low income, claiming benefits or receiving free school meals.
You could get up to £200 toward school uniform costs if you're on a low income, claiming benefits or receiving free school meals.

Thousands of parents can get £200 free cash help in the form of school uniform grants. You could get up to £200 toward school uniform costs if you're on a low income, claiming benefits or receiving free school meals.


All local authorities in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales offer a school uniform grant – but in England, it's a postcode lottery. In Wales, all councils offer £200. In England, councils like the city of London offer £160, while Greenwich, Islington and Tower Hamlets offer 3150, £150 and £125 respectively.


Wandsworth offers £170. Eight councils in England – Bexley, Essex, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Redbridge, South Gloucestershire, Southend-on-Sea and Tameside – offer grants, but only in exceptional circumstances, for example, where you've suffered a fire, flood or have been made homeless.


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You’ll need to find out if your local authority offers the grant first. But according to Andrea Knowles, the budgeting expert at vouchers.co.uk, only 27 out of 149 English councils offer it.


To do this, the government has a handy tool on their website where you just need to enter your postcode. If your local authority does offer the grant, you should be able to claim it if you can prove that you’re on a low income, or receive at least one of child tax credit, Income Support or iIncome-based jobseeker’s allowance.

Others include income-related employment and support allowance, support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, the guaranteed element of pension credit, Universal Credit from the Department for Work and Pensions) and more.

The list is rounded out by working tax credit run-on – paid for four weeks after you stop qualifying for working tax credit.

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Generally, if your child or children receive free school meals, they should also be entitled to the School Uniform Grant (as long as your local authority offers it).

You will need to get in touch with your local council’s school admissions and benefits team. When applying, you’ll need proof of address (such as a utility bill or council tax statement), proof of identity (a driver’s license or passport), and proof of guardianship of your child (birth certificate or adoption papers).

You’ll also need a recent bank statement that proves your income or confirms that you are receiving one of the benefits required for eligibility. Alternatively, you can bring a letter from the Department for Work and Pensions.

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