Back-to-school allowance Belgium 2026: calculate your annual age supplement
Calculate your Belgian back-to-school allowance (annual age supplement or schoolbonus) in Wallonia, Brussels and Flanders, based on your children’s age. Free and sourced.
Your situation
Your children
Child 1
The amount depends on the age the child REACHES during the calendar year, not their age on the payment date. The exact date is also used to check the two Walloon exclusions (born after 30 June, or turning 25 before 1 July).
Enter your children’s dates of birth to estimate your allowance.
A flat amount, paid automatically in August
What is commonly called the “back-to-school allowance” is officially the annual age supplement in Wallonia and Brussels, and the schoolbonus in Flanders. It is a flat amount, paid once a year with the July child benefit, at the beginning of August. No application is needed: your child benefit fund adds it on its own.
The amount depends on age, and on the region
Each of the three regions has its own scale, with age brackets that do not line up. In Wallonia, a child aged 17 or over born from 2020 receives 101.46 €, while the lowest bracket sits at 25.36 €. In Brussels the amount ranges from 25.36 € to 63.41 €, rising to 101.46 € for a higher-education student aged 18 to 24. In Flanders the schoolbonus ranges from 23.07 € to 69.22 €.
Two Walloon scales running in parallel
Wallonia still applies two systems side by side. Children born before 1 January 2020 fall under the old scale, whose age brackets are shifted by a year and which splits in two depending on whether the child already receives a supplement on their child benefit — the gap then reaches 40 € per child. Those born from 2020 fall under a single scale. Two children of the same age can therefore receive different amounts purely because of their year of birth.
In Flanders the allowance is not universal
This is the most frequently overlooked difference. In Wallonia and Brussels every child entitled to child benefit receives the annual age supplement, with no income test. In Flanders the schoolbonus is conditional on entitlement to the social supplement in July, which is itself subject to income ceilings. A Flemish household above those ceilings therefore receives nothing, where the same household in Brussels would receive the allowance.
What this calculator does not do
It does not cover the German-speaking Community, nor the Flemish schooltoeslag — a separate study grant with far higher amounts, which depends on the type of education and on income. It also does not model the sharing rules under equally shared custody: the payment then follows the split of the social supplement, as determined by the child benefit fund.
This allowance is best read alongside the rest of your child-related budget: estimate your monthly child benefit, and if you have a toddler, the ONE childcare rate.
Frequently asked questions
When is the back-to-school allowance paid?
Once a year, together with the July child benefit, which is paid at the beginning of August. You do not need to apply: your child benefit fund adds it automatically. In 2026, Famiris paid the Brussels allowance on 1 August.
Why does my neighbour receive a different amount for a child of the same age?
In Wallonia two scales coexist: children born before 1 January 2020 fall under the old system, those born later under the new one, and their age brackets are shifted by a year. A five-year-old born in 2019 receives 26.92 €, a five-year-old born in 2021 receives 38.05 €. On top of that, under the old system a child already receiving a supplement (social, orphan, disability) falls under a markedly higher scale.
Is the allowance automatic in Flanders too?
No, and this is the least known difference. In Wallonia and Brussels the annual age supplement is universal: every child entitled to child benefit receives it. In Flanders the schoolbonus requires entitlement to the social supplement (subject to income limits) in the month of July. Without that entitlement, no schoolbonus is paid.
Are the schoolbonus and the schooltoeslag the same thing?
No. The schoolbonus is the annual amount linked to age, paid automatically in August — that is what this tool estimates. The schooltoeslag is a separate study grant, which depends on the type of education, income and family situation, and is paid between August and December. Its amounts are far higher and are not calculated here.
My child was born this summer, am I entitled to the allowance?
In Wallonia the payment is only made if the child was born before 1 July: entitlement is fixed on the situation as at 30 June. A child born on 2 July will open the right the following year. Conversely, a child turning 25 during the year is only paid if their birthday falls after 30 June.
Which age is the amount based on?
On the age the child reaches during the calendar year, not their age on the payment date. A child born in December 2020 is therefore treated as six years old for the August 2026 payment, even though they are still five at that point.
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