How To Get A Free
Laptop In The UK
There is no single national scheme that gives a free laptop to anyone who asks for one. Most pages that say otherwise are either years out of date or trying to get you to fill in a survey.
What does exist is a scattering of smaller routes — some national, some run by your council, some run by charities, and some run by organisations like ours. This page lists the ones we know to be real, says plainly which have closed, and tells you what to expect from each.
We refurbish donated computers and pass them on, so we have an obvious interest here. We have put our own routes at the bottom rather than the top, because for a lot of people something else on this list will be quicker.
By Macauley Lynch, Founder · Last reviewed 2 September 2026
WHAT HAS CLOSED
The Department for Education’s laptop scheme has ended. During the pandemic the DfE distributed laptops and tablets to disadvantaged children through schools and councils. That programme wound down and is not open to individual applications. If a page is telling you to apply to the government for a free laptop, that is the scheme it is describing, and it is gone.
Some schools still hold devices from it. That is worth an ask, but ask the school, not the department.
ROUTES THAT ARE OPEN
Your school, college or university
The most overlooked one. Many schools hold a small stock of loan devices and most universities run a laptop loan scheme through the library or student services, often alongside a hardship fund that can cover a purchase outright.
Ask the student services team, the SENCO, or the head of year. This is nearly always quicker than any national route and there is usually no waiting list.
Your council’s hardship support
Councils in England administer discretionary hardship funding, and what it can be spent on varies by area — some will fund a computer where it is needed for work or education, some will not. Search your council’s name plus “hardship fund” or “welfare assistance”. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own equivalent schemes.
Expect to evidence your circumstances. Expect it to take weeks rather than days.
The National Databank and device banks
Good Things Foundation runs the National Databank, which gives out free SIM cards with data through local community organisations, and a device bank that redistributes donated devices. You go through a local partner rather than applying centrally — libraries and community centres are the usual route.
Be realistic about what comes out of it. The donated devices going through the device bank are mostly smartphones rather than laptops, so if a laptop is specifically what you need, treat this as a long shot and work down the rest of this page too.
If your problem is connection rather than hardware, though, start here and stop reading. Free data is routinely available where a free device is not, and it is usually available immediately.
Charitable grants
Turn2us runs a free grants search that matches your circumstances against hundreds of charitable funds, some of which will fund equipment. Family Fund gives grants to families raising a disabled or seriously ill child, and tablets and computers are within what it funds.
Grant applications are slow and evidence-heavy. They are also the route most likely to result in a new machine rather than a refurbished one.
Job centres and employment support
If you are looking for work, ask your work coach. Employment support programmes sometimes hold devices, and some can fund equipment where it is directly required for a job you have been offered.
Refurbishers and community projects
There are refurbishment projects across the UK doing roughly what we do — taking donated computers, wiping and repairing them, and passing them on. Search your town plus “computer refurbishment” or “device bank”. A local one will usually be quicker than a national one, and you can collect rather than wait for postage.
OUR TWO ROUTES
Apply for a device
We allocate refurbished machines to people who need them, through schools, charities and direct applications.
Be aware of the waiting list. It currently runs to around twelve months. We are not going to dress that up — we receive far more applications than we receive suitable donated computers, and we would rather tell you now than have you wait quietly for a year.
If you need something sooner, work down this page from the top. Your school and your council are both quicker than we are.
Our monthly giveaway
We give away one refurbished laptop every month, drawn at random from everyone who has entered. It is free to enter and it takes about thirty seconds.
It is a raffle, so it is luck rather than need — one machine a month against a list of hundreds. But it is one machine a month that skips the queue entirely, and it costs nothing to be in it.
ENTER THE MONTHLY GIVEAWAY →WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR
- Anything asking you to pay a fee, a deposit or postage to receive a free laptop. Legitimate schemes do not do this.
- Surveys that promise a free laptop at the end. These are lead-generation sites; the laptop does not exist.
- “Free laptop with a broadband contract.” Sometimes real, but it is a purchase with the cost spread out, not a free laptop. Read the total.
- Anyone asking for bank details before you have received anything.
IF YOU HAVE A LAPTOP TO GIVE RATHER THAN GET
We take donated computers from households and businesses anywhere in the UK, wipe them properly, and pass on what works.
DONATE A COMPUTER →KNOW SOMEONE WHO NEEDS THIS?
Sharing this page does not enter you in anything and earns you nothing. It is just the simplest way to get the list in front of someone who is looking for it.
Last reviewed 2 September 2026. Schemes change. If something on this page is out of date, tell us and we will fix it.