Whether any child who has had a deferred entry into P1, and whose birthday falls before March 2021, remains eligible to apply for a Best St…

Eligibility is based on when a child is first old enough to start primary school and is not affected by deferred P1 entry. The current application window is for children born between 1 March 2021 and 28 February 2022, with the application dates for children born before March 2021 having now passed. We automatically award the School Age Payment to eligible families in receipt of Scottish Child Payment, without the need to apply, reducing the risk of missing out even if a child’s school start is deferred. In the 2024-25 financial year 91% of School Age Payments were made automatically and the take-up rate was 97%.