Great British Summer Savings - Will this Government Scheme Help your Family this Summer?

The UK Government recently announced a plan to help families save money on days out this summer by temporarily cutting VAT on food and attraction tickets.

While this sounds great, we've decided to take a look at how much this could actually save an average family. Read on to see some examples.

Here's a snippet from the government's recent press release...

From 25 June to 1 September 2026, VAT will be slashed on eligible activities, to helping families enjoy the weekend treats, the days out, the small plans that make life enjoyable during the cost of living squeeze while supporting the businesses that depend on summer footfall.

Great British Summer Savings will be a targeted and temporary scheme to reduce the costs of children’s meals in restaurants, children’s tickets for theatres and cinemas and tickets for everyone for attractions like soft play, adventure centres, and theme parks helping families enjoy a day out for less.

In a further boost for households, children aged five to 15 in England will be able to travel free on local bus services throughout August – making it easier and more affordable for people to get out and about.

The reduced rate will apply to:

• Children’s menu meals served in restaurants for consumption on the premises

• Children’s and family tickets for cinemas, theatres, concerts, shows and exhibitions

• Admission tickets, for both children and adults, to a range of attractions, including: amusement parks, fairs, museums, zoos, soft play centres, circuses, adventure parks, nature reserves, wildlife parks and observation attractions.

How much could you save?

We've taken a look at some of the discounts available. Here are a few examples, based on a family of 2 adults and 2 children.

Children's meals - On average, a child's meal in a restaurant costs around £7.00, so with a VAT reduction from 20 - 5%, this would mean a saving of £1.74, based on 2 children's meals. Adult meals will still be full price. Entertainment tickets - This can be a tricky one to work out the savings, so we've used cinema tickets as an example, as most cinemas give clear pricing, unlike theatres who don't always have separate prices. We've used Cineworld Boldon as an example, where children's tickets are priced at £7.99. Again, based on 2 adults and 2 children, this would give a saving of £2.00.

Adult tickets are still full price.

Admission tickets - As annual passes are excluded from the scheme, we've chosen circuses as an example here, as annual passes are not an option.

We've used prices for Planet Circus' show at Stewart Park In Middlesbrough on Friday 3 July. Full price tickets for a family of 2 + 2 would normally cost £74.00 plus booking fees. The discount this time would be £9.25 before booking fees. This time, the discount also applies to adult tickets.

Based on these 3 examples, that would be a total saving of £12.99, however this still involves spending over £160 on 3 activities.

We would love to know what you think? Are these "GREAT British Summer Savings", or will they make almost no difference? Will you be making the most of it, or will you still be looking for more budget friendly options, regardless of discounts? Have you say over on our Facebook page.