School Clothing Assistance Academic Year 2024/25
Important notice: You only have until the 31 January 2025 to apply for a school clothing voucher, as any applications received after this date will be refused.
Eligibility criteria
You must live in the Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council.
If you live in Sandwell, receive one of the benefits listed below and your child will be in reception class or school years 7 to 11 from September 2024 you may qualify for a voucher towards the cost of your child’s school uniform.
Vouchers will not be available to any child in a nursery class, in school years 1 to 6 or in school years 12 to 14.
The voucher contributions available for this year are:
- £20 for a child starting in an eligible reception class school from September 2024 only
- £25 for child at an eligible secondary school in Years 7 to 11 from September 2024 only
It is really important you read the following before applying
If your child attends any of the following Sandwell schools listed below, do not apply for a voucher from Sandwell Council as you will not qualify. You will need to apply to the school directly.
- Gospel Oak Academy
- Hateley Heath Primary
- High Point Academy
- Oldbury Academy
- Ormiston Sandwell Community School
- Perryfields Academy
- Q3 Academy - Langley
- Sandwell Academy
- Shireland Biomedical University Technology College
- Shireland CBSO Academy
- Shireland Collegiate Academy
- Shireland Technology Primary
- Silvertrees Academy
- Victoria Park Primary Academy
- Windsor Olympus Academy
Children attending academies not in Sandwell
If you live in the Sandwell borough but your child attends an academy outside Sandwell, you will need to apply directly to that school as you will not qualify for a voucher.
Working Tax Credit
You will not qualify for a school uniform voucher if you receive any amount of Working Tax Credit. Please check your latest tax credit awards notice if you are unsure.
Universal Credit
You will not qualify for a school uniform voucher if your net earned income (after taxes and deductions ‘take home pay’) is above £616 per month under the Universal Credit allowance you receive. This will be confirmed on your latest online Universal Credit statement when you received it. On the page (towards the end of the statement), where it says “What we take off (deductions)” on it, it will say, The total take-home pay for (your name’s) this period is £….
If your net earned income on your latest statement is above the £616 figure, your application will be refused. It is therefore very important you check your statement before submitting an application.
You must be receiving one of these benefits:
- Income Support
- Job Seekers Allowance (income-based only)
- Universal Credit - with a household net income of less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get) **
- Child Tax Credit (not including any Working Tax Credit), with an annual income of less than £16,190
- Employment and Support Allowance (income-related only)
- Support under Part VI of the Immigration & Asylum Act 1999
- Guaranteed Pension Credit (Inc. Child Tax Credit)
** If you are in receipt of Universal Credit you may be asked to provide supporting evidence, for example a copy of your Universal Credit Statement(s)
You must apply before the 31 January 2025 as any applications received after this date will be refused.
Please be aware that you will be required to sign up for a MySandwell account to be able to apply.
Please note: We aim to process your claim within 10 working days. In addition if your claim is approved your voucher(s) will be sent via second class post.