WIREDGOV

Contract signed for first year of delivery of backpacks for P1s.

Welcome to School Bags for children starting school next year will be available in five different colours, following the procurement process for the first year of the programme.

Blue, green, pink, red or yellow backpacks will be available for around 47,000 pupils starting Primary One from August 2027.

Edinburgh-based APS Group has secured a two-year contract worth £1.35 million annually, to assemble and distribute the backpacks to schools across the country ahead of the 2027-28 academic year.

Each bag will contain a pencil case, pencils, crayons, a notebook, water bottle and resources to encourage literacy and numeracy practice at home, to help give all children the same start at primary school. Bags will also include information relevant to families of P1 children to support their entry to school, including on social security entitlements and advice for parents and carers on keeping children safe online.

Education Secretary Màiri McAllan yesterday said:

“Excellence and equity is my principal ambition for education, and providing every new P1 pupil with a high-quality bag is part of our wider work to remove barriers for all at the very start of their school journey.

“Building on the success of our universal Baby Box offer, we want to ensure children start school on an equal footing and with a feeling that they belong.

“As well as being available in five colours, children will have the option of adding a drawing to personalise their Welcome to School Bag, to help them start school excited and with all the essentials for their first steps into the classroom.

“These will be delivered in time to be given to children during their transition visits, when the new intake go into primary schools ahead of the summer holidays to get to know their new class.”

Background

APS has been contracted to provide the bags and contents and distribute these to schools for the start of the 2027 academic year. The overall contract covers costs in addition to the bag and its contents – including storage, packing, distribution and staffing. The bags will be assembled in Scotland to ensure maximum value for money.

Projections indicate the P1 intake for primary and special schools in August 2027 will be around 47,000 pupils. Current pupil rolls have been scaled by the 2024-based population projections produced by National Records of Scotland to estimate the number of eligible pupils. This figure may fluctuate depending on how many children have entry deferred at parent or carer discretion.

Full details of distribution and returns process will be confirmed in due course.