Apply for free school meals

Make a free school meal application online.

Eligibility

If your child attends a state school, and you get one or more of the following you can get free school meals:

Universal Credit, and your annual household income is £7,400 per annum (£616 per month) or less after tax, and not including any benefits
Income Support
Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
Support under part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act, 1999
Child Tax Credit, provided you are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and your annual income is less than £16,190, as assessed by HMRC
Guaranteed Pension Credit
Income-based Employment and Support Allowance
Working Tax Credit run-on paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

If your child attends a state school, and one or more of the following applies to your family, your child can get free school meals:

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

Families must also meet the following financial criteria:

If your child attend one of the following schools:

You need to apply for free schools meals directly with the school and not via our online portal.

If they don't attend one of the above schools, apply via the portal:

Download a paper application and supply a copy of evidence of immigration status:

After you have completed your application:

your eligibility for free school meals will be checked using the Government’s automated Eligibility Checking System (ECS) checker the application is processed by the Free School Meal team
if you qualify for a free school meal a message will be sent to you confirming your free school meal award and your child or children's school will be contacted
please contact your child's school to find out how your child's lunch will be served

Please note: 

free school meals cannot be granted to any child until we have received a correctly completed application
entitlement to free school meals cannot be backdated
schools will know if your child qualifies for a universal infant free school meal