School Age Payment (Best Start Grant)
Families in Scotland can get £250 to help with school costs.
Social Security Scotland’s School Age Payment is now open for applications.
The payment is available to low-income families on certain benefits and tax credits to help cover the costs of a child starting school.
Eligible parents of children born between 1 March 2015 and 29 Feb 2016 can access the payment, whether their child is attending school or not.
People can apply for the payment between 1 June 2020 and 28 February 2021.
Parents who are home-schooling or who have decided to defer their child’s entry to Primary 1 until next year, should still apply for the payment by 28 February 2021.
A parent or carer of a child may be eligible if they receive any of the following benefits:
- Universal Credit (UC)
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Pension Credit
- Housing Benefit
- Child Tax Credit (CTC)
- Working Tax Credit.
Applicants under the age of 18, and parents aged 18 or 19 who are dependent on someone who is receiving benefits for them, do not need to be in receipt of a qualifying benefit.
The payment doesn’t affect other benefits and there is no cap on the number of children that can be supported.
Best Start Grant is a package of three payments to support families during the key stages in a child’s life.
People can apply for all three Best Start Grant payments along with Best Start Foods on one simple online application form.
Find out more information and apply at Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods (Opens in a new window or downloads a file) or call 0800 182 2222 and request a call back.
Gov.Scot:Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods (Opens in a new window or downloads a file)