Financial Support

We recognise that the cost of school-related items, activities and travel can place pressure on families. This page explains the main forms of financial support available through school, including Free School Meals, travel support for eligible students, the School & Community Fund and pre-loved uniform.

If you have any concerns about school-related costs, please contact [email protected]. We will always try to provide advice or signpost families to the most appropriate form of support.

Free School Meals

Important update for September 2026: Free School Meal eligibility rules are changing nationally.

All students who currently receive Free School Meals, and any family who wishes to apply under the new criteria, will need to have their eligibility checked again before 1 September 2026. This is because national transitional protections are ending and schools must complete new eligibility checks for the 2026/27 academic year.

From September 2026, the Government is expanding Free School Meal eligibility so that students from households receiving Universal Credit will be entitled to receive a free school meal, once eligibility has been verified.

There will be two categories of benefits-related Free School Meals:

Targeted Free School Meals
This applies to students from households receiving Universal Credit where annual household earnings are £7,400 or less, and to some other eligible benefit categories. This is the category that continues to be linked to Pupil Premium and some other forms of targeted support.

Expanded Free School Meals
This is a new category for students from households receiving Universal Credit who do not meet the Targeted Free School Meal threshold. Students in this category will be entitled to receive a free school meal, but this does not automatically provide eligibility for Pupil Premium or other support that is linked specifically to Targeted Free School Meals.

More information about Free School Meals at WKGS can be found here:

More information about Free School Meals @ WKGS

To find out if your child is eligible for free school meals please click on the link below:

Apply for Free School Meals

Travel Support for Eligible Students in Years 7 to 11

We offer financial support with travel on school-operated bus services from areas across Wirral, Chester, Ellesmere Port and North Wales.

This support is intended to assist eligible students in Years 7 to 11 who meet the criteria for Deprivation Pupil Premium or Targeted Free School Meal-related support. It is funded from the Pupil Premium funding received by the school from central government, and eligibility is assessed each academic year.

Travel Support for 2026/27

For the 2026/27 academic year, the school will assess eligibility for travel support using the Free School Meal and Pupil Premium information already held for the 2025/26 academic year.

This means that students who met the school’s travel support criteria during 2025/26 will continue to be assessed on that basis for 2026/27. This approach is being used because the national Free School Meal rules are changing from September 2026, and all Free School Meal eligibility will need to be rechecked for the 2026/27 academic year.

For annual bus passes purchased for the academic year 2026/27 for school-operated buses, including services from Wallasey, Chester, Ellesmere Port, North Wales, Willaston, Neston and Parkgate, the financial support is as below:

A1 and C3 services: £600 per annum
W-series services: £650 per annum

Apply for Travel Financial Support for School Operated Buses

WKGS Travel Information

School & Community Fund

Parents and carers are requested to make voluntary contributions to our School & Community Fund. We ringfence 20% of the amount that you contribute for the benefit of our school community. This will provide funding to allow us to act quickly to support students, staff, parents, carers and members of our West Kirby alumni, who need support and who would otherwise have nowhere to turn to for help. This community support may take the form of Free School Meals for ineligible students, school uniform, footwear, support for household food and energy bills and other urgent needs identified by our Pastoral Team.

School & Community Fund Information

Pre-loved School Uniform Shop

We regularly sell items of pre-loved school uniform at our parents' events.

If you have any items of current WKGS school uniform or sports kit that is in 'good or better' condition, please donate them at our Main School Reception on Graham Road.

Select page