Free School Meals
Main points
The government recognises the benefits of providing a healthy school meal to the most disadvantaged pupils.
The Education Act 1996 as amended, places a duty on maintained schools, academies and free schools to provide free school meals (FSM) to pupils of all ages that meet the criteria. This includes pupils in school-based nurseries and maintained nursery schools.
A comparable duty to provide FSM to eligible pupils is placed on non-maintained special schools by the Non-Maintained Special Schools (England) Regulations 2015.
Changes for the 2026 to 2027 academic year
From the start of the 2026 to 2027 academic year, all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit attending these schools will be entitled to receive a free meal.
We have made this a legal requirement through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 and intend to lay additional regulations extending this duty to maintained nursery schools.
Going forward, there will be 2 categories of benefits-based free school meals:
- Targeted FSM, which continues to be based on the existing threshold, covering pupils who are in households in receipt of Universal Credit with annual household earnings of £7,400 or less
- Expanded FSM, a new category covering pupils who do not qualify for targeted FSM, but who are in households receiving Universal Credit
Ever 6 FSM Cohort
Pupils who are, or have been, eligible for FSM over the last 6 years are part of the ‘Ever 6’ FSM cohort. This is used for disadvantage funding and accountability purposes. Following the expansion of FSM, Ever 6 FSM will be based on targeted FSM.