Free school meals: from this year every family on Universal Credit qualifies — but you have to apply

From this academic year, free school meals in England are available to EVERY family on Universal Credit, with no income threshold. The old threshold of £7,400 a year left hundreds of thousands of working families out. It has gone — but you still have to apply: nothing is awarded automatically.

Who qualifies from the 2026/27 school year?

Any family receiving Universal Credit, whatever their income. The change took effect at the start of the 2026/27 school year, so it applies now.

Entitlement also continues for those on income-related Employment and Support Allowance, the guarantee element of Pension Credit, and for families supported under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 — an important line for those with no recourse to public funds.

What if the child is in reception, year 1 or year 2?

Meals there are free to every child at a state-funded school regardless of income, under universal infant free school meals.

Even so, it is worth applying. If the family qualifies through a benefit, the school receives extra funding (pupil premium) and the child gains access to other help, such as the holiday activities and food programme.

What is it worth in money?

A paid school lunch in England costs roughly £2.50–£3 a day. Across 190 school days that is £475–£570 a year per child. For two children, close to a thousand.

That is what a family on Universal Credit now does not pay. For many it is worth more than any other single entitlement they know about.

How do you apply?

Through your council: GOV.UK has a page where your postcode produces a link to the right council's form. There is no single national form.

You will need a National Insurance number or asylum claim number, a date of birth and the child's details. Checks run automatically against government records and an answer usually comes within a few days.

What else comes with qualifying?

The Holiday Activity and Food programme — free activities with meals during school holidays. Food vouchers through the council's support fund. In some councils, help with uniform and transport.

Free breakfast clubs in primary schools are also being rolled out from this year.

What changes on the menu in 2027?

The government has confirmed the first overhaul of school food standards in a generation. The new rules take effect in September 2027 — schools have a year to prepare and some will start earlier.

What actually changes: deep-fried food is banned outright; pizza, sausage rolls and other high-fat items stop being a daily fixture; sugary desserts are sharply restricted, with fruit, yoghurt or custard as the dessert most days and low-sugar options such as apple crumble the exception. More fruit, vegetables and fibre; less that is high in fat, salt and sugar. Secondary schools get phased changes for cheese, pulses and drinks.

How can a parent check what a particular school serves?

Under the new rules schools must publish their menu and food policy online and appoint a school food governor. From 2027 the menu stops being an internal document.

Until then there is a simple route: ask the school office for the menu. They cannot refuse.

Read next: Food in Britain: where it is actually cheaper · Universal Credit: who can claim and what it pays