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)
- Income related element of Employment and Support Allowance
- Child Tax Credit, but not Working Tax Credit, with an income of less than £19,995
- Both Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit with an income of up to £9,552
- Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- Universal Credit with a monthly earned income of not more than £796
- Universal Credit, with a single parent/carer working less than 16 hours per week with an annual earned income from employment of less than £19,995
- Universal Credit, with BOTH parents/carers working less than 24 hours per week with an annual earned income from employment of less than £19,995
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.
School Clothing Grant
You can apply for a school clothing grant if you attend an Aberdeen City Council school and if you or your family receive any of these benefits:
- Income Support
- Income-based Job Seeker's Allowance (JSA)
- 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 £19,995
- Both maximum Child Tax Credit and maximum Working Tax Credit and your annual income is under £9,552
- Universal Credit, and your monthly earned income is not more than £796
- 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 2024/2025 can be made from 1 April 2024 and will be paid from the beginning of May 2024.
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
Anyone who has already received a school clothing grant for 2024/25 will also receive a winter clothing payment of £30.
All new successful applications up until 31 March 2025 will also receive an additional £30 winter clothing payment paid along with the 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 2024, 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.