You may be entitled to receive free school meals if you are in receipt of certain benefits or support. You could also raise additional pupil premium funding for your child’s school to fund support like extra tuition, additional teaching staff or after school activities. The information collected in this form will allow us to make this assessment.
From the start of the 2026 to 2027 academic year, FSM eligibility is expanding to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit regardless of household earnings. 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
- support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
A pupil is only eligible to receive a free school meal where both:
- a claim for this support has been made
- their eligibility has been verified by the school where they are enrolled or by the local authority
Households may also be entitled to a meal if they:
- are in receipt of income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- receive the guarantee element of Pension Credit
- meet criteria set out in separate guidance for families with no recourse to public funds
Free school meals for infants
All children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 can get free schools meals whether the parents receive benefits or not.
If you receive benefits it is still important that you to complete a free school meals application, even if you don’t want your child to receive a free meal.
Your child’s school will get extra government funding for every child registered as eligible for a targeted free school meal. This funding is to support learning and is called the ‘pupil premium’.