Schools & Community Groups Grant Application Form

Important Information and Conditions (UK)

We appreciate receiving your application and hearing from you. We are a small largely volunteer charity. Please be patient if it takes a few days to get back to you.

Who can apply for a tw! grant?

• Schools or community groups where 40% or more children are Pupil Premium* (PP) and/or 25% are SEND (Special Needs) students. Preference is given to schools with higher PP/SEND% and related educational activity. We use the latest published government figures for each school.

• In exceptional circumstances we award grants to schools below the 40% threshold. Generally, these schools have several SEND children, a strong educational element, or some other reason which would cause our Independent Reviewer to be flexible.

• Children should be aged 7-16.

• The school or community group must be outside the M25; there are other resources available for Greater London schools, e.g. Go Live Theatre Projects.

*See Scottish and Welsh Schools information below, for separate arrangements.

What does the charity pay for? How large are your grants?

• We pay for theatre tickets, transport, and related educational activities such as workshops or Q&A sessions. Typically, we do not expect to contribute more than £15 per theatre ticket.

• We will pay for teacher/carer support up to the level recommended by the Dept of Education (DOE) guidelines, and as required for SEND students.

• We are happy to pay only for transport or educational activities providing they are linked directly to a theatre production that meets our criteria.

• We do not pay for programmes and refreshments.

• Our maximum grants are £2000.

• We rarely pay up to 100% of the grants requested. We look to schools to use their PP funds and those available from parents and PTA’s, where possible.

• We encourage grantees to ensure they obtain at least the standard student reductions on theatre tickets and transport. Please endeavour to use the most economical transport available and be open to negotiation with coach companies.

• Every effort should be made to ensure PP students are not singled out.

• The play must be a professional production. This means actors, directors and crews are paid.

What is a curriculum-based play?

• A curriculum-based play means there is a direct link between what students are studying in school and what they will be attending at the theatre. For example, if students are studying Hamlet in class and will be attending a theatre performance of Hamlet.

• If a grant is given for a curriculum-based play, we only pay for PP students.

How does the grant process work?

• An Independent Grant Review team looks at grant applications on a rolling basis.

• We aim to provide a decision within 45 days of receiving your application. Please plan well ahead, particularly for Christmas shows. Applications received for performances that fall within 60 days of receipt of your application will not be progressed.

• The number of PP% students who attend must reflect the percent of PP students in the school. We will check this against the DOE schools database and ask you to confirm this in an evaluation report.

• Please submit an initial invoice from a verifiable school or community group account for 80% of the agreed grant, with a balancing invoice once a satisfactory evaluation report has been submitted.

• Payment of the 80% amount is made prior to the event as required by the theatre’s payment terms. Accompany your invoice with copies of invoices from the theatre and transport company, as relevant.

• If costs quoted on your application are estimates, such as for coach transport, and turn out to be less than our grant we will normally reduce our grant accordingly. If actual costs turn out to be higher, we will not increase our grant to cover any shortfall.

• Please note that the balancing 20% amount is not payable until a satisfactory evaluation report (see ‘Do I need to provide feedback?’) has been received. If balancing invoices are not submitted within 60 days of the performance date, we reserve the right to withdraw our grant for the outstanding amount.

What happens about VAT?

• Any costs which you are applying for a grant to cover should be NET of any recoverable VAT. 

How can I help my application succeed?

• We encourage teachers to provide related educational experiences. These efforts may be as simple as a teacher devoting some pre- and post-classroom time to discussing the impact of the play. Theatre works! will start to provide related educational materials in Autumn 2025. We also encourage signing up for Q&A sessions or workshops where these are available.

• Please specify in your application what efforts you will make to ensure a wide range of children from underserved communities benefit from this programme. These may well include children who don’t meet the PP% definition but who for a variety of reasons do not have access to the theatre, e.g. SEND or rural community children. Preference will be given to applications that show the school has implemented plans to reach out to children who may not have had the opportunity to attend theatre performances in the past.

Is there any special requirements for Community Group application?

• If you are applying for a grant on behalf of a community group, then we require you to include a list of the schools attended by the children hoping to go on the trip. This may be submitted on a separate piece of paper. Applications received without this list means that we are unable to complete our relevant criteria checks will mean your application will be declined.

What types of plays are eligible for funding from theatre works!

• We like to support projects that reach a large number of children. Touring companies can be an excellent way to expose a larger audience to the theatre.

• We want children and young people to be exposed to a broad spectrum of plays. When you apply for grants over time (schools can only apply for a grant every other year), we encourage you to look at a range of plays. If you apply for a pantomime one year, the next time you might apply for a drama appropriate for that age group. 

Do you support applications to London Theatres?

• We want young people to have the opportunity to experience the thrill of big London shows as well as the many good regional theatres across the country. We aim to limit London theatre grants to about a fifth of all our funding.

Do you cover theatres across the rest of the UK?

• Yes. We want to support a diverse range of projects across different regions to maximize our national impact.

• We are keen to consider local needs and gaps in arts access. We might for example favour rural applicants if the application indicates there is little or no access to cultural activities for children and young people in the area.

Scottish Schools

• For Scottish applications Pupil Premium is not appropriate. Instead, we use the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) Scores. Schools must be in the Data Zones of the top 40% of deprivation to be included, i.e. have  a score up to 40 on the Scottish School Roll and Locations - data.gov.uk (column V).

Welsh Schools

• We are aware that the Welsh government is moving towards universal primary free school meals, and this is to be rolled out across Wales, starting with the youngest in primary schools. Whilst we will continue to use FSM eligibility in the meantime, we will also refer to evidence as to whether a school is in a deprived area. The Welsh Government website provides this link - WIMD - Explore, which we advise applicants to review in respect of your school, and provide this supplemental information on the application form.

Should I book tickets before making my grant application?

• If relying on a grant from theatre works! please do not book and pay for tickets in advance as your application may not be funded. Where bookings are dependent upon our funding, any reservations you make should be provisional.

Can I challenge the decision on my grant?

• Our decision on a grant application is final; we do not engage in discussions on reasons for our decision. You may make a subsequent application, if applicable.

How often can I apply?

• A school or community group is eligible to receive a grant every other year. It is the date that we advise that the grant has been awarded that is the determinant, not the date we receive the grant application or the date that your school goes to the performance.

Do I need to provide feedback?

• Feedback from students and teachers is critical to the charity. People who are considering donating to the charity look at the evidence we provide to see if the charity is being effective. The quality of your feedback will be considered when reviewing any subsequent applications you make to theatre works!

• We welcome direct quotes from students that describe the impact the experience has had on them. Please don’t simply say that a child or young person liked the play. Possible feedback questions are provided on the Evaluation form . If related workshops or educational materials are created, please tell us about them. We also like to see extracts of written work or pictures students created.

• Evaluation forms should be submitted to us within 30 days of the performance date. We recommend that you avoid performances near the end of term (particularly the summer term) which may not provide you with sufficient time to submit your form. This could prejudice payment of the outstanding 20% of our grant.

• We recommend that you appoint one or more of pupils from your student council or equivalent to act as a ‘reporter’ for your theatre visit.

• Photos and video footage is welcome including from any workshops or post-event activities. Please focus on the children not the performers. We appreciate that getting parental permission for filming students can be challenging.

Is there a time limit for grant payments?

• Yes, you have six months from the date of our approval to your application to claim your grant i.e. submitting your initial 80% invoice. Similarly, you must claim the balancing 20% within 60 days of the performance otherwise you risk forfeiting the final payment.

How far in advance can I apply?

• We give grants up to 12 months from the date of an application.

What else is required?

• We ask that theatre works! is given credit in any accompanying communication material (such as newsletters and social media) published by the school. This should include the theatre works! logo where appropriate. Brand identity information is available in the Brand section at the bottom of our website home page.

• We need to comply with various regulations. Please read the Fine Print section below. Your signature on the application form confirms you have read and agreed to these requirements.

Conditions - The Fine Print

1. You confirm that a written Child Safety Policy equivalent to that adopted by the NSPCC is in place, including a Disclosure and Barring Service or equivalent checks for everyone who will be working with the children.

2. You confirm that the grant will only be used for the purposes outlined in the application, and any unspent funds will be returned to us.

3. If false information is provided or funds are used for purposed outside those outlined, we will require repayment of all the funding provided.

4. theatre works! will not accept responsibility for any claims arising from the events for which funding has been agreed.

5. You agree that we can make public the name of the school(s) or sponsoring organisation that receives a grant from us.

6. You agree that any information provided to us, including quotes and photos from children and teachers, can be used for the charity’s promotional purposes.