Are you eligible for free school meals?

Free school meals are available to pupils in receipt of, or whose parents are in receipt of, one or more of the following benefits:

• Universal credit (provided you have an annual net earned income of no more than £7,400, as assessed by earnings from up to three of your most recent assessment periods)
• Income support
• Income-based jobseeker’s allowance
• Income-related employment and support allowance
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• The guarantee element of pension credit
• Child tax credit (provided you’re not also entitled to working tax credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
• Working tax credit run-on – paid for four weeks after you stop qualifying for working tax credit

Free school meal transitional protections

Transitional protections apply from 1 April 2018, until the end of the 2025/26 school year. Pupils becoming eligible for free school meals under the benefits-based criteria in this time, will continue to receive free meals until the end of the 2025/26 school year.

This applies, regardless of any change in household circumstances, including an increase in earnings above the eligibility threshold.

From the start of the 2026/27 school year, the Department for Education will introduce new eligibility criteria meaning that all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit will be entitled to receive a free meal. It is their intention to end transitional protections alongside this change in threshold, with eligibility for all pupils reverting to whether they meet the eligibility criteria regardless of whether they were previously protected. They will issue further guidance ahead of September 2026.

All children in key stage 1 (reception class, year 1 and year 2) are automatically entitled to have a free school meal through universal infant free school meals (UIFSM). You don't have to apply for universal infant free school meals, but in order for your child's school to recognise who is eligible for universal meals and who qualifies for government free school meals for funding purposes, we encourage all parents who meet the eligibility criteria for government free school meals to apply.

The government will continue to provide schools with additional funding to support or enhance the learning of pupils who are currently or have been entitled to free school meals within the last six years. It's essential that parents/carers apply for free school meals even if the pupil doesn't wish to receive a free school meal.