If you are an employee of the European Commission or other EU institutions and have children, you might (among other benefits) be entitled to the European Commission Education Allowance. For the details, FAQs and most frequently encountered scenarios, read on.
General rules
If your child is younger than 5 or older than 5 but not yet in a primary school, he/she entitles you to a Pre-school Allowance EUR 102,18 per month, subject to the Correction Coefficient.
If your child is older than 5 and in regular full-time attendance at fee-charging a) primary school b) secondary school, c) university or a similar educational institution, you are entitled to a single Education Allowance of EUR 283,82, which can be doubled in some circumstances to EUR 567,64. If your child does attend a European School, the Education allowance can still be partially used to cover transportation costs.
The Education Allowance is adjusted according to the Correction Coefficient at your place of employment, as is your salary and all other European Commission allowances.
Costs covered by the Education Allowance
The Education Allowance covers the below fees up to the limit of EUR 283,82:
- School fees.
- Registration fees.
- Transport costs.
The Education Allowance does not cover such costs as:
- Meals.
- School uniforms.
- Learning materials.
- Extracurricular activities.
If your school fees are higher than the single or double Education Allowance, in most cases you will have to supplement the difference from your own income, especially, if you’re in Brussels.
However, some EU agencies in locations without a European School have particular rules about reimbursement/coverage of primary and secondary education costs, and might cover monthly school fees that significantly exceed the European Commission Education allowance limits. As an example, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency offers its staff members “Direct payment of school fees in accordance with service contracts signed between FRA and certain international schools in the Vienna area”. Similar arrangements exist in other agencies (if you know of a particular agency that offers such support, please leave it in a comment and I’ll update the article).
Education allowance adjusted by the Correction coefficient
The below table shows you the amounts of the Education allowance in euros depending on the city your EU institution is located in.
| City | Current correction coefficient | Education allowance (single) | Education allowance (double) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amsterdam | 113.9 | 322.13 | 644.26 |
| Athens | 81.4 | 230.22 | 460.43 |
| Berlin | 101.9 | 288.19 | 576.39 |
| Bonn | 95.8 | 270.94 | 541.88 |
| Bratislava | 80.6 | 227.95 | 455.91 |
| Brussels | 100 | 283.82 | 567,64 |
| Bucarest | 66.6 | 188.36 | 376.72 |
| Budapest | 71.9 | 203.35 | 406.70 |
| Dublin | 129 | 364.84 | 729.68 |
| Helsinki | 118.4 | 334.86 | 669.72 |
| Karlsruhe | 98 | 277.16 | 554.33 |
| Copenhagen | 131.3 | 371.34 | 742.69 |
| Lefkosia | 78.2 | 221.17 | 442.33 |
| Lisbon | 91.1 | 257.65 | 515.30 |
| Liublana | 86.1 | 243.51 | 487.02 |
| Luxembourg | 100 | 282.82 | 565.64 |
| Madrid | 94.2 | 266.42 | 532.83 |
| Muenchen | 113.9 | 322.13 | 644.26 |
| Paris | 120.5 | 340.80 | 681.60 |
| Prague | 85.2 | 240.96 | 481.93 |
| Riga | 77.5 | 219.19 | 438.37 |
| Rome | 95 | 268.68 | 537.36 |
| Sofia | 59.1 | 167.15 | 334.29 |
| Stockholm | 124.3 | 351.55 | 703.09 |
| Tallinn | 82.3 | 232.76 | 465.52 |
| Valletta | 94.7 | 267.83 | 535.66 |
| Varese | 90.7 | 256.52 | 513.04 |
| Vilnius | 76.6 | 216.64 | 433.28 |
| Warsaw | 70.9 | 200.52 | 401.04 |
| Vienna | 107.9 | 305.16 | 610.33 |
| Zagreb | 75.8 | 214.38 | 428.76 |
When is the Education Allowance doubled?
The rules state that the monthly Education Allowance limit is doubled if the EU institution’s staff member lives more than 50 km from the nearest European School. This entails the assumption that 50 km is too long of a distance to travel to school every day and most likely the child would be enrolled in another school nearer to home. Alternatively, the increased allowance can be spent towards transportation expenses.
This, of course, means that the Education Allowance will be doubled for staff of some of the smaller agencies located in cities where there is no European School.
In some places where EU institutions are located, the local European School offers only a limited number of grades. In this case you will also receive a double Education Allowance if the grade your child needs to attend is not available in the local European School.
Double Education Allowance for most students at higher education institutions
If your child attends a university, a college, an institution providing vocational training or similar, you are entitled the single Education allowance if it is located less then 50 km from your place of employment. It will be doubled if the educational establishment is more than 50 km from your place of employment.
Will my Education Allowance be doubled if my children remained in my home country?
It is important to remember that for calculation of entitlement to the double Education Allowance it is your place of employment that counts. Place of employment is the location mentioned in your contract where you are expected to perform your work and relocate to. What does this mean in practice?
In case you have moved back to your home country due to the Covid pandemic, if your ‘place of employment’ has a European School, you will receive only the single Education Allowance.
You will also receive a single Education Allowance if you moved to your institution in a different city or country and there is a European School there, but your children remained behind in your home country without a European School. Because the children would be entitled to a place in the European School if they relocated together with you to the place of employment, you may not claim to double allowance even if they live elsewhere.
Reimbursement of transport expenses
All children or employees of EU institutions are entitled to reimbursement of transport costs, irrespective if they attend a European School or not. These costs are reimbursed as part of the Education Allowance and do not increase the total reimbursed amount.
Costs for one of four types of transport are reimbursed:
- European School bus. PMO will make a direct transfer to the school administration after your entitlement to the Education Allowance is confirmed.
- School bus
- Public transport. To receive reimbursement, copy of the season/annual ticket or proof of payment from the school transport administration must be sent to PMO.
- Private car. Costs are reimbursed for the same value as a season/annual public transport ticket in correspondence with the length of the school year.
Special rules about higher education students
Very short-term courses are not considered higher education and do not entitle you to the Education Allowance. The academic/training programme must last at least 16 hours a week for a minimum of 3 consecutive months to entitle you the Education Allowance.
Reimbursement of distance learning will be individually scrutinized by the PMO and you should expect to provide additional proofs of attendance and payment.
If the university studies are for free, you can still claim the Education Allowance for accommodation costs of your child such as at a boarding school or a host family. The host family may not be relatives. In all these cases you will have to prove that costs were actually incurred (a contract or an invoice, etc.).
Educational allowance if child undertakes paid training or work
Children of EU officials which are aged 18 to 26 may work part-time in parallel to studies or vocational training.
The parents will continue to receive the education allowance as long as their child’s part-time contract montly salary is less than 40% of the basic salary of an AST1/1 with the weighting of the country in which the work is carried out.
In 2023 the AST1/1 basic salary is 3327.49, hence the income cannot be higher than EUR 1331.
Education Allowance and divorced families
If you are divorced and your children are in the custody of your former partner, you can still claim the Education Allowance. There is a possibility to do a direct transfer of the allowance to the other parent.
In the case where the Education Allowance is paid to custodian of your children, the amount of the allowance (single or double) is calculated based on the custodian’s place of residence and not your place of employment.
Education Allowance and disability of a child
The rules governing entitlement of the Education Allowance also mentioned that the allowance can be doubled due to ‘imperative education reasons’. This should include disability that does not allow your child to attend a European School. In case of a child with disability there is a possibility to claim a double Education Allowance even if the school is closer than 50 km from your place of employment. For specific details of this enquire with your EU institution’s HR department of PMO directly.
Also remember that some EU institutions have established their own support measures for parents of children with disability that are more generous than the standard European Commission framework. Again – ask your HR department.
Unequal treatment of pre-school children?
If you are an expat and have children not yet in primary school, it might come as a shock to you that you will receive a much smaller Pre-school Allowance compared to your colleagues that have school-aged children.
I have not been able to find a good explanation as to why this is the case. The best explanation I’ve heard so far is that this allowance is modelled on the Belgian and French childcare systems where creches and kindergartens are easily available for children from very small ages and the European Commission doesn’t see a need to support EU institutions staff who choose to enrol their children in private childcare facilities. However, this creates a major problem in most other countries where private kindergartens usually cost the same or even more than a private school.
Some EU agencies have taken the steps to equalize the Education Allowance for pre-school and school-aged children. There is also the option to request compensation of pre-school fees on a case by base basis to your agency’s executive director. One should also consider putting forward a Staff Request through the Staff Committee if the above policy is not in place. It might take 2 or more years, but well worth it for parents of children in pre-school.
Payment period
The Education Allowance is paid until your child reaches age 26. The only reason when the Education Allowance is paid after age 26 if studies have been interrupted by military service. In this case the allowance payment period is extended by the length of the military service period. This means that you are financially supported in paying for your child’s education through the bachelors and masters studies.
Tip for contract with a non-EU school
If the monthly rate of your child’s school is higher than the monthly Education Allowance (single or double), see how frequently your school issues invoices.
If the school normally issues invoices only for the regular school months (September to May/June), ask them to instead provide you 12 invoice for each months of the year (this will have to be reflected in the contract between you and the school that you will also have to share with PMO.
This is perfectly legal and accepted by the PMO, and you will be able to recuperate a higher amount of your child’s annual schooling costs.
Administrative burden to parents
The administrative burden to benefit from the Education Allowance is relatively mild.
You have to provide an declaration form for each child to the PMO through Sysper or your institution’s HR. If your or your child’s circumstances will not change, the declaration does not have to provided every year. You will have to notify the PMO only when there is a change in the circumstances.
The declaration also has to be accompanied by an European Commission form filled by you and signed by a school representative that your child is indeed enrolled. You also need to add either one invoice or the contract so that the PMO can calculate the monthly payment.
Education allowance in your pay slip
Code for the Education Allowance in your pay slip is either ISN or ISF.
Measures to avoid double-financing
As a principle, you are expected to declare any similar funding as the Education Allowance to the PMO, so that the Education Allowance can be deducted by the respective amount received from another source. Examples of such payments: allocations d’études, basisbeurs, student grants, state education grants, allocation de rentrée scolaire, becas de estudios, etc.
It is expected by the PMO that you will actively claim national benefits that you are entitled to either at your place of origin or the place of employment. The PMO is actively monitoring such support and is aware of most national schemes.
In case you would in general be entitled to receive a national allowance/benefit, but are not receiving due to some particular circumstance, PMO might ask you to provide proof in order to receive the full Education Allowance.
Legal excerpt
Article 3 of Annex VII of the Staff Regulations
Subject to the conditions laid down in the general implementing provisions, an official shall receive an education allowance equal to the actual education costs incurred by him up to a maximum of ►M148 EUR 285,81 ◄ per month for each dependent child, within the meaning of Article 2(2) of this Annex, who is at least five years old and in regular full-time attendance at a primary or secondary school which charges fees or at an establishment of higher education. The requirement of attendance at a school which charges fees shall not apply to the reimbursement of the cost of school transport.
▼M131Entitlement to that allowance shall commence on the first day of the month in which the child begins to attend a primary educational establishment and shall cease at the end of the month in which the child finishes its education or at the end of the month in which the child reaches the age of twenty-six, whatever is the earliest.
▼M112
The allowance paid shall be subject to a ceiling of twice the maximum prescribed in the first subparagraph for:
▼M39
—
an official whose place of employment is at least 50 km from, either:
—
a European school, or
—
an educational establishment working in his language which the child attends for imperative educational reasons duly supported by evidence;
▼M16
—
an official whose place of employment is at least 50 km from an establishment of higher education in the country of which he is a national or working in his language, provided that the child actually attends an establishment of higher education at least 50 km from the place of employment and the official is entitled to the expatriation allowance; the latter condition shall not apply if there is no such establishment in the country of which the official is a national ►M112 or where the child attends a higher education establishment in a country other than that of the official’s place of employment ◄ ;
▼M112
—
in the same condition as in the foregoing two indents, persons entitled to the allowance who are not in active service, taking account of the place of residence instead of the place of employment.
The requirement of attendance at a school that charges fees shall not apply to payments under the third subparagraph.
▼M56
If custody of the child in respect of whom the education allowance is paid has been entrusted by law or by an order of court or of the competent administrative authority to another person, the education allowance shall be paid to that person in the name and on behalf of the official. In such case, the distance of at least 50 km referred to inthe preceding paragraph shall be calculated from the place of residence of the person having custody of the child.
▼M112
For each dependent child within the meaning of Article 2(2) of this Annex who is less than five years old or is not yet in regular full-time attendance at a primary or secondary school, the amount of this allowance is fixed at ►M148 EUR 102,90 ◄ a month. The first sentence of the last subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall apply.
25 responses to “Education Allowance”
Hello, for the education allowance: my son just started primary school this year. He is going to a normal public school with no school fees as such, I just have to pay for the lunch and the childcare for Wednesday afternoon. He walks to school, no transportation costs. Do I understand it correctly that in this case I will not get any education allowances at all? In this case, I don’t even have to start a request and register my school confirmation in Sysper, right ? do not really understand why I got allowances for the kindergarden until this summer where it was a public kindergarden he could walk to as well and now at school we do not get any allowances at all? Do not really understand the rational behind this thinking, can someone help please ?
Hi! I was also recently wondering about the same thing – whether I should try to claim at least the transportation costs for one of my kids who goes to a public school. I don’t have a good response. I hope someone with more experience or HR knowledge can provide a better reply!
Hello Ben,
As per the Staff Regulations, my parents (based in Brussels) receive the education allowance. I am currently studying in Switzerland and working part-time to cover my tuition fees and living costs, which are higher here. According to the Education Allowance Rules, the child’s part-time monthly salary must be less than 40% of the basic salary of an AST1/1, adjusted by the weighting of the country where the work is performed.
1. Would you be able to clarify which Education Allowance coefficient is applicable in my case: is it based on where I work (Zurich) or where my parents work (Brussels)?
2. Additionally, what is the maximum amount I can earn in 2024, and is the threshold refer the to gross or net amount of my earnings?
3. Where can I find the applicable regulations text?
Thank you in advance and best regards.
Hi! Your parents can get a 100% binding reply from their institution’s HR. However, here’s what I can immediatelly share:
1. After consulting the Staff Regulations, I’m fairly certain the Correction Coefficient is calculated according to the place of residence of the parent who received the allowance. Do a search for ‘education allowance’ in the SC text, there are only 12 instances so you’ll quickly be able to see all the conditions.
2. AST1/1 amoung for 2024 is EUR 3461,58 (Source is Article 66 of the 2024 Staff Regulations edition). This means you can’t officially earn more than EUR 1384.60. As your parents work in Brussels, this will be the final amount as CC for Brussels is 100%.
3. See reply to NO. 1.
Hello,
Will my 23 year-old-daughter receive any allowance when doing her poorly remunerated medical internship (5-year specialisation)? Does it count as work or as education? Thank you
I believe this counts as education. Please see my response to Rain.
If a child enrolled in an Italian university is admitted to an international mobility extra EU of 6 months in UK
Can I be entitled to double flat rate of education allowance with no deduction of grant fir mobility ?
Hi
I work in Luxemburg and my kids will go to university in holland and Portugal ( home country)
Can i claim double allowance for both who will stay in university residences?
The request for the allowance is the same as for the Education allowance for school-aged children. If unsure how to proceed, please contact your institution’s HR department/unit.
Hi,
I am posting this here because I cannot find a more relevant blog post so far on this topic: I do not find information in the staff regulations regarding contract agents and maternity. If a woman gets pregnant while being employed in a CAST position, what would be the rules? How long can she stay away from work? Is she entitled to financial support during this period? If she is still home with the child when the contract ends, what then? If you have any information on that, I’d appreciate it a lot! Thank you.
Hi! General rules applicable to all staff members apply in this position. As I haven’t researched this question in detail, I would abstain from giving specific tips. I suggest you do two things: 1) ask HR about the applicable rules, 2) consult other colleagues who’ve been on maternity in your institution. While the rules are uniform, their application might slightly differ by institution. Colleagues who’ve been on maternity leave might advise you how to stay with your child at home the longest, while also receiving most of the benefits. Here the devil is really in the details and someone who has gone through this sometimes Kafka-esque process might really give you tips worth their weight in gold (or actually hundreds of euros).
Thank you for this precious piece of information.
Any chances you may know where these amounts come from (282€ for Brussels) as they do not really make sense. As a matter of fact, with roughly 3,000€/year there is no way it will cover any fees for any private schools so we are forced to enrol our kids in the European School’s system that is not ideal for everyone.
Thank you in advance
Indeed, the institutions want to force you to enroll your kids in a European School if there is one.
For EU institutions outside Brussels and Luxembourg, and where there is no EU school, one by default gets double the Education allowance, and often there are much higher reimbursement limits stipulated in the particular EU institution’s ‘seat agreement’ with the hosting Member State which most often reimburse actual school costs. These usually remain in place until an Accredited European School is established. Locations of Accredited European Schools: https://www.eursc.eu/en/Accredited-European-Schools/locations.
Hi Ben!
I’m divorced male with 2 kids. I’m moving from one country to another and kids will stay with my ex-wife. They will be more then 1000km from me. Both are in regular school.
Also, I’m married (yes, again) and she have a kid (not mine).
Will I get any education allowances or some extra kids money, which I can send to my kids? And may be potentially get a place in school for new wife kid?
Thank you!
Hi! Please consult a professional lawyer to get a definitive reply, or at least consult your EU institution’s HR department.
With this formality out of the way, here are my thoughts on the matter –
If you remain the official parent of kids from first marriage and your wife does not also work at an EU institution (or receive a similar allowance from a similar institution like a UN agency), and your 1st wife’s current partner has not adopted your kids, you should be entitled to the dependendt child allowance as well as education allowance for both kids (provided that they are in a fee paying school or incur other expenses that can be reimbursed from the edudation allowance).
Regarding the child in your new marriage, this is something you would have to ask your new institution’s HR department. If you would have adopted the child, you would be entitled to the same rights as for your biological children. If you are in a marriage with the child’s mother, but have not adopted the child, I am unable to commment on your entitlements.
It would be very kind if you could share here or over email if your current spouse’s child also entitled you to the dependent child allowance and education allowance so that I can update the article with this situation!
Very informative, thank you. Does the Commission have nurseries for children of staff (in Brussels)? I see that the Parliament and Council do, and it shocks me that the Commission doesn’t, since it likely employs much more people.
Pablo, as far as I know all EU institutions staff are treated equally and the Commission should not be inferior to the Council or the EP.
Please look into this some more, contact your institution’s HR. If it really turns out that creches/ nurseries/ kindergardens are not as widely available to COM staff as to other institutions, please let me know and I’ll be happy to add this to the article so that people are informed and know what to expect when moving to Brussels.
Hello,
I am a master’s student studying in The Netherlands. As my father works at the European Commission in Brussels, we benefit from the education allowance. My question is: if I take a student job (8hrs/week paid), will we still be granted the education allowance?
Thank you for your help.
Hi, if you are above 18 and<26 years old your parent(s) keep(s) their allowance for as long as you don't earn more than 40% of an AST1/1 equivalent salary.
Hello Ben,
I would like to ask your advice on what to do. The private school that I enrolled my child has a discount for a lump-sum payment for the annual fees. If I request for 12 installments, I am going to lose this discount, which is quite big. What can I do?
Thanks in advance.
Hi! You should talk to your HR or the entity that deals with the Education Allowance and negotiations with local schools. Also – talk to colleagues, as older colleagues might have already experienced a similar issue. Staff committee is another good source.
However, it is possible that you might be unable to benefit form the single payment discount.
Good afternoon,
I am moving from one EU agency to another EU agency starting with 1 May 2022. My kids will stay to finish the school and now the current EU agency will charge me for the remaining 2 months of the school. I would like to know what are the rules in this type of situation.
Thank you!!
In the worst case scenario, you will be entitled to the Education allowance (single or double amount, depending on whether there’s an EU school in your new employment location / 283,82 or 567,64 EUR * Correction coefficient).
In the best case scenario, you should enquire with your new agency whether they can under a normal or exceptional procedure to cover the costs of your kids school.
Hello, thank you for the extensive explanations. Let’s assume that I don’t want to send my kid to the European School in Warsaw while working at Frontex, but to another international school paid for from my own pocket. Am I eligible for the education allowance? Thank you.
Hi! I understand from other readers that the European School in Warsaw recently opened and does not have all 12 grades available. Hence, if your child is eligible to a place in the local European School (i.e., the necessary grade/year is open), you are entitled to a single Education Allowance. If your child does not have a place in the European School, you are entitled to a double allowance. This is under the assumption that your place of work is Warsaw. The same would apply to any other EU city. More precise details can be obtained from your HR department.
If you find out a details that’s not covered in the article and my comment, could you please let me know so that I can update the content? Thanks!