Free school meals (FSM)

All infants in reception, year 1 or year 2 are entitled to FSM, regardless of the parent/guardians circumstances. This scheme is referred to as universal infant FSM (UIFSM).

Parents meeting the standard FSM criteria are still strongly encouraged to apply as the government gives schools additional funding ('pupil premium') for every pupil who successfully registers for FSM.

From 1 April 2018, transitional protections were implemented by the Department for Education (DfE) in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). This was to minimise the impact of the rollout of Universal Credit and the introduction of the net earned threshold to determine eligibility for free school meals and to ensure no pupil loses a meal as result of these changes.

Based on the previous rules, the rollout programme for the end of transitional protection was due to start from 1stApril 2025 with most children eligible for free school meals losing their transitional protection at the end of their current phase of education (primary or secondary). In June 2025 the Government published new rules about transitional protection that replaced the end dates that families were previously advised of.

Transitional protection now applies from 1 April 2018, until the end of the 2025/26 school year for all children with an existing ‘entitled’ free school meal claim in our system, including children whose entitlement starts anytime from 1 April 2025 to their last school day in July 2026.

Transitional protection applies regardless of any change in household circumstances, including an increase in earnings above the eligibility threshold.

It is the Department for Education’s intention that all protections will be discontinued from September 2026 to the start of the 2026/27 school year. From this point, families must meet the eligibility criteria to be entitled to free school meals and will cease to be entitled if they no longer meet the published criteria.

FSM can be considered for children who attend nursery before and after lunch. The child should be accessing early education during a period that includes the lunch period.
For FSM eligibility queries please contact your child’s nursery directly.

How to apply

We aim to assess your claim within 5 to 10 working days. On your claim form please provide all current contact information as we may need to contact you for further information regarding your claim.

Please make sure you have the following details before making a claim:

• national insurance number
• details of the school your child attends
• claimants and the child’s personal information
• list of benefits you receive

Apply for FSM

The rules have been permanently extended FSM eligibility to children in all households with no recourse to public funds (NRPF), subject to maximum income thresholds.

Eligible groups

These groups include, but may not be limited to children of:

• Zambrano carer
• 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

The maximum income threshold differs based on your location and the number of children that your family has.

Income thresholds

Under the permanent extension of FSM eligibility to all NRPF groups, the annual household income thresholds for those families able to work are:

• £22,700 for families outside of London with 1 child
• £26,300 for families outside of London with 2 or more children
• £31,200 for families within London with 1 child
• £34,800 for families within London with 2 or more children

For more information on these rules visit the Providing FSM to families with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) page.

Apply for FSM (NRPF)

If we have informed you that your child or children are not entitled to FSM and you believe this decision is wrong, please provide evidence which confirms your entitlement within one month from the date of our notification letter.

This should be in the form of a full benefit award letter from Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) or HMRC or documentary evidence from the Home Office.

For example, your latest Child Tax Credit award letter showing all pages for the current year. Please note documents and letters older than three months are not acceptable.

We can then review your child’s or children’s entitlement to FSM.

Please complete the form below to report changes in circumstances for those with existing FSM entitlement (for example a change in school or change of address)

Report changes of circumstances

We've looked at the benefits information we hold and found that some households that may meet the criteria for FSM but haven't yet made an application.

We want to increase the Pupil Premium funding for all academies and locally maintained schools in Luton, so we'll be using the data that we already have to automatically award FSM.

Those families who appear to qualify for FSM but haven’t applied yet will be contacted by letter to explain how the automatic award works.

Read this information sheet that gives more background to the scheme to help you if you receive a letter.