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

In addition, the following pupils will be protected against losing their free school meals:

• Since 1 April 2018, all existing free school meals claimants have continued to receive free school meals whilst Universal Credit is rolled out. This applies regardless of any change in household circumstances, including if their earnings rise above the threshold during that time. Protections will remain in place until the end of the 2025/26 school year.
• From the start of the 2026/27 school year, the Department for Education will extend entitlement to free school meals to include all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit. It is our 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. We will issue further guidance ahead of September 2026.
• A pupil is only eligible to receive a free school meal when a claim for the meal has been made on their behalf and their eligibility, or protected status, has been verified by the school where they are enrolled or by the local authority.

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 academic year, it is the Department for Education’s intention that all protections will be discontinued, alongside an extension to the eligibility criteria for free school meals. From this point, households must meet the eligibility criteria to be entitled to free school meals.

No recourse to public funds (NRPF)

The DfE have permanently extended free school meal eligibility to children in all households with no recourse to public funds (NRPF), subject to maximum income thresholds.

This guidance explains who these groups are and how schools can verify their eligibility and award free school meals.

Schools are not able to use the eligibility checker to confirm eligibility for these families as the family will not be in receipt of Universal Credit or legacy benefits.

Eligible groups

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
• Chen carers
• families holding a BN(O) passport
• spousal visa holders
• work visa holders
• student visa holders
• those with no immigration status

The maximum income threshold differs based on your location and the number of children that your family has.

Income thresholds

Under the permanent extension of free school meal eligibility to all NRPF groups, the annual household income thresholds for those families able to work are:

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

Whether or not a person will be considered within the London, or the outside London threshold will be determined by the address of the family.

If the family is living within the local authority of one of the 33 London boroughs, the London thresholds will apply. In addition to these thresholds, families must hold no more than £16,000 in capital and savings.

Providing an application form

We have provided a sample application form, including a self-declaration that you can provide to families and carers for verifying eligibility.

Though the form is designed for applicants to complete themselves, we appreciate that individual circumstances may make this difficult, and schools can assist with the completion if required.

Use of the sample application form is not mandatory. You can create your own form if you prefer.

Recording eligible pupils

You should record eligible free school meals pupils who qualify through the NRPF criteria in the termly school census, in the same way as all other free school meals pupils.

You should retain evidence of the application including the self-declaration and any supporting documentation for usual audit purposes.

Confirming NRPF status

We have provided examples of how families can demonstrate their NRPF status. This list is not necessarily exhaustive, and families may be able to provide alternative evidence not listed.

In all cases, the family should complete and sign the self-declaration form confirming both their immigration category and that they are not above the maximum income threshold required for their area.

• Article 8 of the ECHR: Families will be able to provide a letter from the Home Office granting them leave to remain in the UK or a biometric residence card.
• Section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999: Families will be able to provide a letter from the Home Office or local authority confirming Section 4 support or an ASPEN card.
• BN(O) passport holders: Families will be able to show either a BN(O) passport or visa.
• Spouse, work or student visa holders: Families will be able to show their visa.
• Zambrano or Chen carers: In many (but not all) cases, the family will be able to show a derivative residence card. If they do not hold this, they must be able to show that:
  • the carer or parent is not a British citizen
  • the child is a British citizen
  • the carer is a direct relative or legal guardian of the child, and they have the primary responsibility for the child
  • there are no other members of the carers’ family in the UK or the EEA who could look after the child

Confirming income

Check the income thresholds for your area.

Families should complete a self-declaration of their income as part of their application.

To verify this, we suggest you ask to see one of the following:

• payslip
• P60
• bank statement
• letter from their bank
• letter from their employer
• letter from the local authority confirming support if applicable

Is my child affected by 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 academic year, it is the Department for Education’s intention that all protections will be discontinued, alongside an extension to the eligibility criteria for free school meals. From this point, households must meet the eligibility criteria to be entitled to free school meals.

If you do not want to create an account and run a check yourself, you will need to contact your child's school, as they can run a check on your behalf. To do this, you should provide the following information:

• Parent's National Insurance (NI) or NASS number (9 digits)
• Parent's full name
• Parent's date of birth

You will not be able to use this website if your child’s school is located in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland.

Selecting your child’s school ensures that your details are visible to the school, so they can process the free school meal application on your child’s behalf.

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 during this time will continue to receive free meals until the end of 2025/26.

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

This checker has a direct feed from the DWP. The data does not reflect protected children; the eligibility checker will return a 'Not Eligible' result for these children. Eligibility is determined by the date your child was in receipt of the Free School Meal.

If a parent feels the result is inaccurate, they may provide equivalent paper-based evidence to their local authority, which must then complete a manual check. See the section called Paper-based evidence below.

Paper-based evidence

Parents may need to submit paper-based evidence in support of their free school meals claim, particularly for:

• Families claiming under income-based benefits
• Families unable to submit information through the online Universal Credit system

For families potentially eligible under Universal Credit, applicants should provide:

• A copy of their Universal Credit award statement from the most recent assessment period(s), going back a maximum of three assessment periods.
• The three relevant assessment periods are the three complete periods immediately preceding the date the parent requests free school meals.

For families eligible under Child Tax Credit or a legacy benefit, applicants should provide:

• A letter from Jobcentre Plus confirming eligibility or an Income Support payment book
• A final Tax Credit Award Notice (TC602) from HM Revenue & Customs

For families eligible under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 or the guarantee element of the Pension Credit, applicants should provide:

• A letter from the Home Office stating they are receiving support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• A ‘Pension Credit M1000 Award Notice’ showing details of any Guarantee Pension Credit in payment

The rules around eligibility for free school meals work the same for carers and foster parents as they do for birth parents.

If a child is in care, the information entered should be that of the carer.

If your child’s school is participating, they will be able to see that you are eligible and should process the information accordingly. If they have not contacted you within a couple of days, reach out to the school to ensure the relevant action has been taken.

When you submit your application, it will indicate on screen and in the email you receive whether your school is participating or not.

Currently, many children in Reception, Year 1, and Year 2 are entitled to receive free meals as a result of government initiatives.

However, it is important for all parents to check their eligibility because when parents are shown to be eligible, schools can claim extra government funds to improve the school’s resources and provide a better service to children.

You should be aware that communications with the Local Authority (including online transactions) may be subject to monitoring and recording only for purposes permitted by the Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000 in order to prevent or detect a crime, or investigate or detect the unauthorised use of the service.

The privacy policy for this website can be seen here.