Grants for schools in the UK: where to look and what closes soon

Schools in the UK can apply to government schemes, lottery community funding, sports bodies, trusts and local funds, but most non-government funders attach a condition: the project must benefit the wider community, not only pupils. On 26 October 2026 OpenGrant listed 56 open, rolling and forthcoming schemes for schools and colleges from 34 funders, 9 of them closing within 30 days. This guide sorts them by type and explains the community-benefit rule that decides most applications.

The funding picture for schools

The schools and colleges page showed 54 schemes open now and 2 forthcoming on 26 October 2026, with 24 accepting rolling applications and a median stated maximum of £100,000. That median is high because the list includes large government and research programmes for which a school is one eligible body among many, such as Department for Education contracts and UKRI equipment funds. The education theme page, which follows the charity register's education purpose, told the other half of the story: 144 schemes with a median stated maximum of £4,000, because most education grants are small awards to charities and community groups.

For a school the practical split is: government schemes you apply to as a school; community funding you apply to for a community project based at the school, often through a PTA or friends group; and sports and heritage bodies with facility grants.

Government schemes

The Department for Education and other departments publish their grants through GOV.UK Find a grant, which OpenGrant ingests. On 26 October 2026 the schools page listed:

• Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) in Schools Grant Scheme, Department for Education: £10,000 to £1 million, deadline 2 November 2026 at 5pm, for most English regions.
• Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) School Improvement Grant, Department for Education: £40,000 to £240,000, open to 1 April 2027, England.
• Community Legacy Fund, National Highways: £500 to £10,000, deadline 29 October 2026 at 1pm, England.
• Money Guiders Grant Fund 2026/27, Money and Pensions Service: £5,000 to £25,000, deadline 10 November 2026 at 5pm, UK-wide.

Government rounds have fixed closing times and detailed eligibility; the record links to the official guidance, which is the only place to confirm whether your school type and region qualify.

Lottery community funding

The National Lottery Community Fund lists schools among eligible applicants for Awards for All England, with a condition it states twice: "we can only fund your project if it mainly benefits and involves the communities around the school." It gives examples of what qualifies, bringing the school and community together, using school spaces for community activities outside school hours, helping the wider community connect, learn or take part, and of what does not: curriculum-based activities or anything during the school day, improvements to school buildings, outdoor areas or equipment, training for school staff, school trips, after-school clubs or alternative learning environments. The grant is £300 to £20,000 with a decision in 16 weeks, and the Fund suggests contacting it before applying if you are unsure. How to apply to Awards for All England covers the rest of the rules, including the two-unrelated-committee-members requirement that applies to a PTA.

Trusts and foundations

Most grant-making trusts that fund education give to charities rather than schools, which is why PTAs and friends groups matter. Two national examples with explicit school rules:

• Henry Smith Foundation Holiday Grants: £500 to £3,000 per recreational day trip or residential of up to seven days, for children aged 13 and under, from "schools, youth groups and non-profit organisations" with income under £2 million. Priority goes to groups in the 20% most deprived areas, and 60% of 2025 grants went to such areas. Apply at least six weeks before the trip; the programme page stated an application window to 19 November 2026 for October to December trips but showed the programme as closed on 26 October 2026, so check it. See how to apply to the Henry Smith Foundation.
• Wessex Water Community Fund: schools cannot apply, "however, PTAs and 'friends of' groups are eligible to apply for activities which are not statutory provision", and town councils are excluded while parish councils are not. The same pattern recurs at community foundations across the UK.

To find the trusts that have funded schools or education charities in your area, use the peers lookup with the charity number of a comparable organisation and read the GrantNav grants it returns.

Sport and facilities

Sports bodies fund school facilities when the community uses them. Sport England's Movement Fund offers £300 to £15,000 on a rolling basis in England. The Football Foundation listed grass pitch drainage grants of up to £25,000 and a goalposts scheme, both open. Historic England's Places grants (£1,000 to £1 million, rolling) can apply to historic school buildings. For capital requests, capital versus revenue funding explains what to put in the budget.

Writing a school application that passes the community test

The applications that succeed with non-government funders describe the community outcome first and the school second: who outside the school will use the space, attend the activity or benefit, when, and how you know they want it. Evidence of need explains how to show that without a survey budget, and how to write a grant application covers the structure. Keep the statutory and curriculum work out of the budget, because the lottery and most trusts will not pay for it and a mixed budget invites rejection.

What closes soon

The schools page lists schemes soonest deadline first, and the November 2026 deadlines page shows everything closing that month across all applicant types. UK grants closing this month explains how to decide whether a late application is worth making, which for a school usually means asking whether the documents and the community case already exist.