Rural Payments Agency
You can claim for school milk subsidy after youve been approved by RPA and youve supplied the information needed.
How to claim
You claim for the subsidy using . Youll need to use kilolitres when filling in your claim.
You must make sure your claim is accurate.
To complete the form open it in a PDF reader, such as Acrobat Reader, then download and save the form to your computer.
Claiming for more than one school
If youre claiming the subsidy for more than one school, youll need to attach an annex to the claim giving information about all the schools in that claim.
You can use the RPA school milk claims spreadsheet as the annex. If you use your own spreadsheet it must be in the same format and include the same information as the RPA school milk claims spreadsheet. You can request a copy by contacting trader@rpa.gov.uk
If youre claiming for both primary and secondary schools, youll need to submit 2 separate annexes:
- one for pupils receiving primary education
- one for pupils receiving secondary education
Where a school has both primary and secondary pupils, you must only include the information for each in the relevant annex.
Pupils receiving primary education in both special or secondary schools can be included in your annex for primary schools so they can benefit from national top up funding.
Claiming for administrative costs read Calculate your school milk subsidy.
When to claim
Claims must be made after youve been approved by RPA and after each of your claim periods. Claim periods can be:
- school terms
- school terms rounded to whole months
- the same periods as claims for milk under the nursery milk scheme
- calendar months
RPA will contact you at the beginning of each school year for details about your claim periods. You must provide this information by 31 October that year and before you claim.
RPA must receive your claim by the end of the third month after the end of the claim period.
For example:
| Claim period ends in | Deadline for RPA to receive claim |
|---|---|
| March | 30 June |
| April | 31 July |
| July | 31 October |
| December | 31 March |
If the deadline falls on a public holiday or weekend, its extended to the next working day.
If RPA receives your claim after the deadline (known as a late claim), it will be reduced (known as a financial reduction), as detailed in Regulation EUR 39/2017, Article 4.
When to expect your payment
If this is your first claim, RPA may need to carry out an inspection to check your records before they can pay you. Pre-payment inspections may also be needed on later claims if errors are found.
RPA aims to pay all other claims as quickly as possible, paying at least 98% within 28 days and 100% within 90 days from receiving them. If your claim is incomplete or RPA has to query any of the information in it, this period starts from the date on which the query is resolved. If you fail to provide any additional information within these deadlines, your claim may be rejected.
Meeting the scheme rules
If you dont meet the scheme rules one of the following may be necessary:
- RPA will recover the subsidy
- you may need to pay an administrative penalty which is equal to the difference between the amount you claimed and the amount youre entitled to - this will not apply if the mistake is classed as an obvious error or you are not at fault.
More information
You can read more information about:
- the scheme
- how to contact RPA
- the relevant regulations
Last updated 13 March 2023 +show all updates
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Version 24.0 of claim form added to page.
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First published.