Parent's Information

Government's Home Access Programme

As a result of the Governments Home Access Task Force a £300m programme was announced in September 2008 to ensure that more families can go online and their children benefit from regular access to the ICT they need as 21st century learners.

Starting in 2010, children at Key Stages 2 and 3 who are eligible for free school meals will also be eligible for a Home Access Grant. This will provide a free computer and one year’s Internet use. The aim is to help over 270,000 households by March 2011.You will find more information on this site, alternatively you can contact your school or visit the Becta website .

Families who have already benefitted from previous programmes such as Computers for Pupils are not eligible for a Home Access Grant and those families who benefited from offers such as the free Virgin Media broadband offer are to be discouraged from applying for a Home Access grant. In this way the impact of the new funds on the digital divide can be maximised.

Families who fall outside the initial Home Access eligibility criteria, but believe that their children’s educational prospects are suffering because of difficulties buying them a suitable computer and the Internet should contact their school who may be willing to apply to the e-Learning Foundation for a grant to help towards the costs.