Free Primary School Books Scheme

It was announced in  Budget 2023 that every primary school and special school in the country would be included in a new €50 million scheme which would cover all school books, workbooks and copybooks. The Scheme was introduced for the 2023/2024 school year and has been renewed for the 2024/2025 school year .

According to the Department of Education, the Free Primary Schoolbooks Scheme in primary schools should remove the cost from families of funding schoolbooks for children and young people enrolled in recognised primary schools and special schools. Parents will no longer be required to make any contribution towards the cost of schoolbooks, including the cost of any workbooks and copybooks. Where the funding allows, some related classroom resources may also be provided by schools under the new scheme. Schools will communicate with parents in relation to the scope of the scheme in their school.


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Below are some of the highlights from the Reference Guide w issued to primary schools for the 2024/2025 Free Book Scheme -the full scheme can be seen in the links above.

1. Second hand books

2. Swimming lessons and other school based activity

The primary schoolbook funding is ring-fenced for schoolbooks, workbooks, copybooks and related classroom resources. The cost of swimming lessons or any other similar school-based activity is not considered a legitimate expense under the free primary schoolbooks scheme.

3.Book Ownership & Movement of a pupil to a new school during the school year

All schoolbooks remain the property of the school and are provided on loan to pupils. While schoolbooks remain the property of the school, children and young people should be allowed to bring schoolbooks home in order to complete homework or to allow parents/guardians stay connected with their child’s learning in school. If a pupil moves to another school during the school year, the schoolbooks are retained in the school. The new school will provide the pupil with a complete set of schoolbooks, workbooks and copybooks and any additional classroom resources that were provided for other pupils at the start of the school year.

4. Voluntary contributions from parents

Section 64 of the Education (Admissions to schools) Act 2018, which was commenced in 2018 explicitly prohibits the charging of admission and enrolment fees for admission to or for continued enrolment in a school, with some exceptions such as boarding or fee-charging schools. The manner in which any voluntary contributions are sought and collected is a matter for school management, however their collection should be such as not to create a situation where either parents or pupils could reasonably infer that the contributions take on a compulsory character. This funding is being provided to schools to provide schoolbooks, workbooks and copybooks. Parents must not be asked to purchase schoolbooks, workbooks or copybooks or to make a contribution to the school towards the cost of schoolbooks, workbooks or copybooks.

5. Developing schools

The Department recognises a specific number of schools as developing schools. These are schools which have newly opened since September 2017 and which have significantly increased their enrolment size each year.


The schoolbooks grant for the Primary Schoolbooks Scheme will be calculated/paid based on the projected enrolment for 30 September 2024. However, if the validated enrolment on 30 September 2024 is less than the projected enrolment, the school is liable to refund any excess schoolbooks grant to the Department. The Department will be in contact with these schools before the end of the 2023/24 academic year to seek projected enrolment figures.

6. Maintenance of school books loaned to pupils under this scheme

The maintenance and upkeep of supplies is a matter for each school. In the interests of prolonging the lifespan of books many schools prefer to cover and label them before distribution.Parents/guardians should be reminded that pupils are expected to take good care of their schoolbooks and classroom resources and keep them in good condition during the year. Schools should also devise a mechanism for keeping track of schoolbooks that best suits their needs.

7. Surplus Funding

In the first instance, the grant must be used to eliminate the cost of schoolbooks, workbooks and copybooks for parents. Thereafter the grant should be used to eliminate costs of related classroom resources such as pens and pencils. Any surplus grant can be used to purchase shared/library books, audio books or other material to enhance literacy (in English, Irish or other languages) and numeracy resources in the school. Alternatively the surplus can carried forward to the next school year. Schools should consider the need to replace or purchase new books in the following year when deciding how to use any surplus grant.

8. Purchase of shared books and audio and other literacy and numeracy resources for the school.

Schools must meet the costs of all schoolbooks, workbooks, copybooks and related classroom resources before considering purchasing shared books, audio books or other material to enhance the literacy and numeracy resources in the school. In other words, schools must ensure that all costs of schoolbooks and related resources are eliminated for parents before shared books for use in a school’s library can be purchased
View the full scheme guidelines here
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