Thousands of parents could get £150 next week for school uniforms: find out if you’re eligible

The Schools Essentials Grant opens applications next week, offering £150 per school-age child, limited to three children per household, to cover the cost of their children’s school uniforms. The grant is provided by the charity GroceryAid, specifically for parents who work in the food industry.

These include workers in supermarkets, wholesalers, manufacturers, suppliers, department stores, independent grocers, gas stations or food industry service providers. Applications for the grant open on June 18, and parents must have worked for a food employer for at least six months to be eligible, the Mirror reported.

They must also qualify for Universal Credit or Child Tax Credit for children aged four to 18 and have savings or household balances of less than £4,000. In addition, anyone who has received a GroceryAid grant since April 2024 is not eligible.

Parents will need to complete the application form, which will be on the charity’s website on June 18 at 9am and will close on the 20th. The website notes that the most common reason applicants are rejected is that do not upload all the correct information and supporting documents, urging those considering applying to have their documents ready.

This includes a current pay slip that clearly shows the parent’s name, employer and NI, as well as a Universal Credit statement showing the amount of the payment and the full breakdown of their benefits. For those receiving child tax credits, they will need to show their child tax credit record or statement from spring 2024.

For those not eligible for the School Essentials Grant, a number of local councils offer school uniform grants which readers can find out more about on their website. Eligibility and the amount parents receive varies widely between areas, with places such as Wandsworth offering automatic £160 vouchers, while areas such as Sandwell have online applications for the £25 grant, while others do not does not offer any kind of grants.