We want to make sure that every child eats well when they’re at school. If your family finds it difficult to afford lunch for your children, you can apply for free school meals.

Transitional protection

Transitional protections will end on 31 August 2026. If your child currently gets free school meals, you must reapply to continue receiving them.

Who is eligible for free school meals

From September 2026, all children living within a household in receipt of Universal Credit will be eligible for free school meals.

There will be 2 tiers of eligibility, targeted free school meals and expanded free school meals.

Targeted free school meals criteria

Your child will be eligible for targeted free school meals if you get one or more of the following benefits:

• Universal Credit (and earn less than £7,400 per year)
• support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• the guarantee element of Pension Credit

Children eligible under the targeted tier will attract pupil premium and other disadvantage funding for their schools. Children may also have access to other education entitlements, such as the holiday activities and food programme (HAF) and the 'extended rights' element of school transport assistance.

Expanded free school meals criteria

Expanded free school meals are available to children in households receiving Universal Credit with annual household earnings over £7,400. They are entitled to free school meals only.

For all other schools, apply online

If your school is not listed above, you can apply for free school meals online by clicking the button below.

Once your application has been processed, we’ll send you a letter via email to confirm the outcome. Due to the government changes to free school meals, we are expecting a much higher application rate than usual for the 2026 to 2027 school year.

Children in households with no recourse to public funds

Families with an irregular immigration status have a no recourse to public funds (NRPF).

These groups include, but may not be limited to children of:

• Zambrano carers
• families who have no recourse to public funds with a right to remain in the UK on grounds of private and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights
• families receiving support under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 who are also subject to a no recourse to public funds restriction
• a subset of failed asylum seekers supported under Section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 ( you must provide a letter from the Home Office or Local Authority confirming Section 4 support or an ASPEN card)
• Chen carers
• BN(O) passport holder
• spousal visa holder
• work visa holder
• student visa holder

The government have permanently extended eligibility for free school meals to children from all families with NRPF, subject to the income thresholds as follows:

• £22,700 per annum for families outside London with 1 child
• £31,200 per annum for families within London with 1 child
• £26,300 per annum for families outside London with 2 or more children
• £34,800 per annum for families within London with 2 or more children

This includes any wider income or support you may be receiving in addition to any earnings from employment. You will need to provide documentary evidence as proof of your income for both yourself and partner (where applicable) – this could be a bank statement, a pay slip or an employment contract.

In addition to these thresholds, families must hold no more than £16,000 in capital and savings.

To apply for free school meals, you will need to complete an application form that includes a self-declaration form to verify eligibility. Please complete one application form per child.

Families who are eligible for NRPF free school meals will be eligible under the targeted free school meals tier. Children eligible under the targeted tier will attract pupil premium and other disadvantage funding for their schools. Children may also have access to other education entitlements, such as the holiday activities and food programme (HAF) and the 'extended rights' element of school transport assistance.

Contact

If you have any questions or need help, please contact our Free School Meals team by:

• phone on 01202 123 222
• email on fsm@bcpcouncil.gov.uk