Free school meals
We want to make sure children in the city who are eligible for free school meals receive them.
Children, aged 19 years and under, can get a free school meal if their parent or carer receives one of the following benefits:
- Universal Credit (as long as household annual net earned income is no more than £7,400 as assessed by earnings from the 3 most recent assessments)
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- support under the Immigration and Asylum Act of 1999
- Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit - provided the household is not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and has an annual gross income no more than £16,190
- Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks of no longer qualifying for Working Tax Credit
How to get free school meals
Apply through your child's school
The most direct way is to apply through your child's school. They can take you through the process and will confirm with you when the free school meals are in place.
Check if your child is eligible for free school meals
You should contact the school if you have not received a confirmation or you want to start a new application. Do not contact us about applications made through a school as this can slow the process down.
Auto-enrolment
There are some eligible children who do not receive school meals and have not applied to their child's school.
To ensure these children receive the free school meals they are entitled to we are sending letters to their families to let them know we will automatically enrol their child.
We can only auto-enrol children we have previously written to.
Find out more about auto-enrolement including how to opt out
Page last updated: 14 May 2025
