School Meals

f you get certain welfare benefits, you can apply for free school meals for your child.
You could save up to £400 a year if your child gets free school meals and it will mean they get a healthy school lunch every day.

 Is Your Child Eligible? 

Your child may be able to get free school meals if you get any of the following:

• 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 guaranteed 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 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
  
• Universal Credit - if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)

Children who get paid these benefits directly, instead of through a parent or guardian, can also get free school meals.

Your child may also get free school meals if you get any of these benefits and your child is both:

• younger than the compulsory age for starting school
  in full-time education
  
• If you do not qualify for most benefits (also known as having ‘no recourse to public funds’), your child may still be eligible for free school meals. Ask their school or local authority whether they’re eligible.

Should you wish to apply, please follow the link below. 

What other support your child will get

Free school meals are part of something called ‘pupil premium’. As well as providing free school meals, pupil premium provides extra funding of up to £1,350 to your child's school. The school can then use this funding to support your child’s education through extra tuition, teaching staff or after-school activities.

School meal cost

From 1st April 2024, the price of a child's meal changed to £3.00 per day or £15 per week for those who pay for their meals.