Free school meals entitlement

Find out about changes to free school meal entitlement, what 'auto-enrolment' means and how you can opt out.

Who is eligible for benefits based free school meals

From the start of the 2026-27 academic year, The Department for Education (DfE) will expand free school meal eligibility 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 guaranteed element of Pension Credit
meet criteria set out in separate guidance for families with no recourse to public funds

Targeted FSM

Children from households in receipt of Universal Credit with annual household earnings of £7,400 or less (the existing threshold for FSM prior to the expansion), will be eligible for targeted FSM. In addition to receiving free meals, pupils eligible for targeted FSM will attract pupil premium and other disadvantage funding for their schools.

Other education entitlements that have previously been linked to eligibility for FSM, such as the Holiday Activities and Food programme (HAF) and the ‘extended rights’ element of school travel assistance, will also continue to be based on targeted FSM.

Households qualifying for free meals because they are in receipt of support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 will also be eligible for targeted FSM.

Households in receipt of Income-related Employment and Support Allowance or the guaranteed element of Pension Credit or households with families with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) may also be eligible for targeted FSM.

Expanded FSM

Children from households in receipt of Universal Credit, with annual household earnings exceeding £7,400 will be entitled to expanded FSM (only meals in school).

You can find out more about the changes to free school meal entitlement here Department of Education's free school meals guidance.

Auto-enrolment

In Bedford Borough, some children who meet the eligibility criteria, will be automatically signed up for free school meals.

Historically, 21% of children receive free school meals locally. This means they can access healthy, hot meals, with cultural, dietary and religious requirements catered for, every school day, at no cost to the family.

Some schools can offer reduced rates for school trips, clubs, after school care, holiday activities and uniform to children eligible for ‘targeted’ free school meals.

Free school meals are worth around £470 per year, per child, and they are known to support children to thrive and:

help children be ready to learn, contributing to improved behaviour and learning
boost attainment and attendance
help children achieve their potential and increase a child’s lifetime earnings
offer the child the opportunity to develop social skills by sitting with friends whilst they eat
help families save on food costs
improve diet quality and helps combat childhood obesity, saving the NHS money in the long term

Who is eligible for free school meals?

Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children

Children in reception, year 1 and year 2 are entitled to free meals, regardless of the earnings or benefit status of their households. This support is made available under the Universal Infant Free School Meal (UIFSM) programme.

Families with children in these year groups may also be assessed against benefits-based FSM. If they are eligible for targeted FSM, they can attract additional funding for their schools and may be entitled to other support such as Holiday Activities and Food programme (HAF) and the ‘extended rights’ element of school travel assistance.

Year 3 + children

Children in year 3 upwards, who we hold the relevant data for, will be assessed automatically. If we identify pupils that are eligible, your child’s school will be notified and free school meals will be offered.

What does ‘auto-enrolment’ mean?

Most families no longer need to apply for a free school meal for their child(ren). Instead, we operate a free school meals auto-enrolment check scheme.

We know some children in Bedford Borough who are eligible for free school meals are not getting them. The auto-enrolment scheme means more of our children will get free school meals.

From September 2024, Bedford Borough has attempted to determine which children are eligible for free school meals based on the information the Council already holds about Housing Benefit, Council Tax Support and National Insurance number information.

Although we will attempt to carry out regular auto-enrolment eligibility checks, where we do not hold the information needed, we may ask your child’s school to gather and share this with us. There may also be occasions where some families need to apply for free school meals between checks, for example:

if your circumstances change unexpectedly
if you move into Bedford Borough
if you think your child might be eligible but you have not heard from us

Please use the form below to request a free school meal eligibility check.

Request a free school meal eligibility check

What happens after I apply?

If we find your child is eligible, we will advise your child’s school as soon as possible.

If you want to accept the free school meals, you will not need to do anything, and you will be automatically enrolled on to the free school meals scheme.
If we do not advise the school that your child is eligible, this will mean your child is not entitled to receive free school meals. However, if you think that your child should be eligible, you will need to complete an application (using the link above).

How do I opt out of the auto enrolment scheme?

If you decide you don’t want us to undertake automatic eligibility checks in the future or you wish to opt out of free school meal entitlement, please use the form below.

Opt out of the auto enrolment checks