Are you eligible for free school meals?
If your child goes to a Shropshire Council state-funded school (maintained or academy school) you may be able to claim for free school meals. There are two types of free school meals:
- Government (benefits-based) free school meals
- Universal infant free school meals
From September 2026 the Department for Education is introducing new benefit criteria which will mean that all children from households in receipt of universal credit will be entitled to receive a free school meal.
There will be two categories of benefits-based free school meals, known as ‘Targeted FSM’ and 'Expanded FSM’.
Targeted FSM
- Covering pupils who are in households in receipt of universal credit with annual household earnings of £7,400 or less
- Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
Households may also be entitled to a meal if they:
- Are in receipt of income-related employment and support allowance
- Receive the guaranteed element of pension credit
- Meet criteria set out in separate guidance for families with no recourse to public funds
Only pupils eligible for targeted FSM will be counted towards the following:
- FSM6 cohort (that is pupils who are, or have been, recorded as eligible for FSM at any point in the last six years). The FSM6 cohort is used for accountability, Pupil Premium funding and deprivation funding in the national funding formula (NFF)
- To determine eligibility for home to school transport (HTST), and:
- Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF)
Expanded FSM
A new category covering meals only, for pupils who don't qualify for targeted FSM, but who are in households receiving universal credit.
For pupils who qualify under the targeted FSM or expanded FSM criteria, eligibility for free meals will be kept under regular review through annual re-checks, ahead of the start of each academic year.
Free school meal transitional protection
Transitional protections for free school meals were in effect from 1 April 2018, and meant that pupils who became eligible for benefits-based free school meals during that time, retained their entitlement, even if their household circumstances changed. The transitional protections ended at the end of the 2025/26 academic year.
From September 2026, pupils must meet the eligibility criteria for free meals, regardless of whether they were previously protected.
At the end of the 2025/26 academic year, all pupils who were in receipt of benefits-based free school meals, where their application had been submitted through Shropshire Council, were re-assessed. Where the re-check identified that a pupil may no longer qualify for benefits-based free school meals from September, families were notified by a letter through their child’s school before the end of the summer term.
Who qualifies for universal infant free school meals?
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 benefits-based targeted FSM for funding purposes, we encourage all parents who meet the eligibility criteria for targeted FSM to apply.
What is Pupil Premium?
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 'targeted' 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.