Free School Meals from September 2026: Who Qualifies Now and How to Apply

Updated 13 September 2026 and checked against the Department for Education’s free school meals guidance (last updated 1 September 2026) and its pupil premium technical note for 2026 to 2027. First published 10 June 2026. This covers England; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own schemes.

The expansion announced in June 2025 is now live. The Department for Education says more than 3 million children from families receiving Universal Credit now benefit from free school meals. When the change was announced, it said over half a million more children would qualify. What most coverage leaves out is that the rules now create two groups of children, and they do not get the same things.

What are the free school meals changes in 2026?

From the start of the 2026 to 2027 school year, every child in a household receiving Universal Credit in England is eligible for free school meals, whatever the household earns. Before that, a Universal Credit household only qualified if its net earned income was £7,400 a year or less. The Department for Education says over half a million more pupils became eligible.

The government says the expansion puts £500 back into parents’ pockets every year and will lift 100,000 children in England out of poverty. Both figures come from the June 2025 announcement on GOV.UK.

The change has a specific legal basis: section 32 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, which added subsection (4D) to section 512ZB of the Education Act 1996 and came into force on 17 August 2026 (SI 2026/803). It makes a registered pupil at a maintained school or pupil referral unit in England eligible for a free school lunch where the pupil or their parent receives Universal Credit.

Do all Universal Credit families get free school meals now?

Yes for the meal, no for everything that used to come with it. Since the start of the 2026 to 2027 school year every child in a Universal Credit household in England can get a free school lunch, whatever the household earns. But the Department for Education now splits them in two: households earning £7,400 a year or less get targeted free school meals, which still carry pupil premium for the school and free holiday club places, while households above that line get expanded free school meals, which is the meal only.

The two groups: targeted and expanded free school meals

The DfE guidance now splits benefits-based free school meals into two categories. The school or council works out which one your child is in when it checks your claim.

A child in the expanded group gets exactly the same lunch. The difference is what comes with it. The DfE’s pupil premium technical note for 2026 to 2027 says benefits linked to free school meals, including pupil premium, will only be available to the targeted group, and the guidance says HAF and the extended rights to school travel stay tied to targeted eligibility too. Families on income-related Employment and Support Allowance or the guarantee element of Pension Credit, and some families with no recourse to public funds, may also be in the targeted group.

Who qualifies for free school meals in 2026?

From September 2026 the guidance lists these routes:

• Universal Credit, at any level of earnings
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• The guarantee element of Pension Credit
• Families with no recourse to public funds who meet the criteria in separate DfE guidance

Separately, every child in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 at a state-funded school in England gets a free lunch under universal infant free school meals, whatever the family earns. The guidance still encourages those families to apply for benefits-based free school meals if they qualify.

Transitional protections have ended

Since 1 April 2018, children who were getting free school meals kept them under transitional protection even if the family’s circumstances changed. Those protections ended at the start of the 2026 to 2027 school year. A child still in a Universal Credit household qualifies under the new rule. A child whose household is no longer on Universal Credit or another qualifying benefit may lose eligibility, so check with the school office rather than assume. The guidance says pupils who stop being eligible this way still count in the Ever 6 group, so their school keeps receiving disadvantage funding for them.

How to apply

Free school meals are not automatic. The guidance says a pupil is only eligible once a claim has been made and the school or council has verified it.

1. Find the form: use GOV.UK’s apply for free school meals page to reach your council, or ask the school office.
2. Have your surname, date of birth and National Insurance number ready. The DfE checking service uses them to confirm Universal Credit and which group your child falls into.
3. Tell the school once you are confirmed, if the council has not already done so.

The DfE’s new online checking service has been open to councils since 1 June 2026, and from this school year schools can also make checks on it directly. If you applied before and were refused because of the £7,400 cap, apply again. A past refusal does not carry forward.

How the £7,400 line is worked out

It only decides which group your child is in, and it is not your salary. Annex B of the guidance says it is net earned income, checked against your Universal Credit assessment periods: no more than £616.67 in the most recent one; if that is over, no more than £1,233.34 across the last two; and if that is over, no more than £1,850 across the last three. So a family whose earnings go up and down can land in the targeted group even if a year’s wages add up to more than £7,400.

Why registering matters beyond the lunch

For children in the targeted group, registration is what brings in pupil premium for the school: £1,550 a year for a pupil in Reception to Year 6 and £1,100 in Years 7 to 11 in the 2026 to 2027 financial year, and a child keeps counting for six years under the Ever 6 rule. It also opens free HAF holiday club places. There is more on how that funding works in our pupil premium guide. For the expanded group, the value is the meal itself.

The honest caveats

• This is an England change. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own schemes.
• You need to be on Universal Credit or one of the other qualifying benefits. Families on no qualifying benefit stay outside benefits-based free school meals, whatever the pressure on their budget.
• The expanded group gets the meal only. Pupil premium and free holiday club places depend on the £7,400 line.
• Rules and rates change. Everything here was checked on 13 September 2026.

Sources

• GOV.UK: Free school meals guidance for local authorities, maintained schools, academies and free schools (updated 1 September 2026)
• GOV.UK: Evidence of eligibility for free school meals (Annex B)
• GOV.UK: Pupil premium 2026 to 2027 technical note
• GOV.UK: Breathing space for families as government eases school costs (1 September 2026)
• GOV.UK: Over half a million more children to get free school meals (4 June 2025)
• GOV.UK: Apply for free school meals

Common questions

Does every child on Universal Credit get free school meals now?

In England, yes, from the start of the 2026 to 2027 school year, whatever the household earns, once you have applied and the claim has been checked. Households earning £7,400 a year or less are in the targeted group, which also brings in pupil premium and HAF holiday club places. Above that it is the meal only.

Do I need to reapply for free school meals every year?

Normally no. The guidance asks schools and councils to recheck eligibility every year, including which group your child is in. Tell the school if your benefits change, and if your child moves school, check the record has followed them.

I was turned down before because I earned too much. Should I apply again?

Yes. The £7,400 cap that ruled you out no longer applies to the meal itself. A previous refusal does not carry forward, so you need to make a fresh claim.

My child had free school meals under transitional protection. Will they lose them?

Transitional protections ended at the start of the 2026 to 2027 school year. If your household is still on Universal Credit, your child qualifies under the new rule. If you are no longer on Universal Credit or another qualifying benefit, they may not, so check with the school. Their school keeps disadvantage funding for them under Ever 6.

My child is in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2. Should I still apply?

Your child already gets a free lunch under universal infant free school meals. The DfE still encourages families to apply for benefits-based free school meals, because if your household is in the targeted group, registering brings in pupil premium for the school and free HAF holiday club places.

How much are free school meals worth?

The government says the expansion puts £500 back into parents’ pockets every year. For children in the targeted group there is also pupil premium for the school: £1,550 a year at primary and £1,100 at secondary in 2026 to 2027.