Free school meals

National free school meals changes from September 2026

What is changing?

Expanded entitlement for families on Universal Credit

From the start of academic year 2026 to 2027, all children in households receiving Universal Credit will be entitled to free school meals, regardless of earnings.

From September 2026, there will be two types of free school meal eligibility:

Targeted FSM, which continues to be based on the existing threshold, covers pupils who are in households in receipt of Universal Credit with annual household earnings of £7,400 or less.

Expanded FSM, a new category covers pupils who are in households receiving Universal Credit, earning above £7,400.

Children eligible for Targeted FSM will be entitled to other educational entitlements such as the HAF programme and the ‘extended rights’ element of school travel assistance. Pupil Premium funding will be provided to schools based on children eligible for Targeted FSM.

Children eligible for Expanded FSM will receive free school meals but will not be eligible for the additional support that children eligible for Targeted FSM are entitled to and will not attract pupil premium funding.

Universal Infant Free School meal policy

All pupils in reception, year 1 and year 2 will continue to be entitled to free school meals under the universal infant free school meals policy regardless of family circumstances. Schools should continue to encourage the parents of children in reception, year 1 and 2 to apply for free school meals if they are eligible for Targeted FSM so that the children can benefit from the HAF programme and school travel assistance and so that pupil premium funding is triggered for the school.

End of transition protections

Since 2018, some children have continued to receive free school meals, even if their family circumstances changed during the rollout of Universal Credit. Now that entitlement for free school meals is being expanded to all families on Universal Credit, these protections will end.

This means:

Some children may no longer be eligible from the start of the 2026 to 2027 academic year if their family does not receive Universal Credit or another qualifying benefit

Eligibility will now be based on current benefit status

Pupil Premium

From September 2026, children who received free school meals during the transitional protection period will be considered an ‘Ever6’ child and will attract pupil premium funding for their school. This includes pupils who are no longer eligible for free school meals under the new system, or who are eligible for Expanded FSM. These pupils will remain part of the ‘Ever6' cohort for 6 years.

From the 26/27 academic year, only children eligible for Targeted FSM will be included in the 'Ever6' category in future years. This means that children eligible for Expanded FSM who cease to be eligible in future years will not be considered 'Ever6' and will not attract pupil premium funding for their school.

Rechecking eligibility

Checks should be completed ahead of the start of the 2026 to 2027 academic year. This is to allow all pupils to be ready to receive FSM from the start of the autumn term. This includes any pupils currently using any early years provision or due to start using early years provision from September 2026.

Schools are responsible for ensuring checks are completed for their pupils in cooperation with Wokingham LA. The check result is valid for the full academic year.

Going forward, FSM eligibility should be monitored by schools and local authorities on an ongoing basis, through annual rechecks, ahead of the October census. Pupils will not attract FSM funding if they do not have a valid recheck of eligibility ahead of the October census each year.

Rechecks should confirm that pupils in receipt of FSM continue to meet the eligibility criteria set out in this guidance, and the category of eligibility they fall under (either targeted or expanded).

New FSM claims

Many families will become eligible for the first time under the expanded FSM criteria. To ensure that those families can receive free meals from the start of the 2026 to 2027 academic year, schools should:

promote awareness of the new FSM entitlement so families, including families using early years provision, know about support they might be able to receive

begin accepting new FSM applications as soon as possible.

Changes to the Free School Meals application system in Wokingham

School colleagues will be aware of plans to introduce auto-enrolment for free school meals in Wokingham. This will mean that children who are eligible for free school meals will be enrolled for free meals automatically without the need for parents to apply. Parents will be able to opt out of this process if they do not want to be included.

This will be introduced during the academic year 2026-27.

While this exciting work continues, it is essential that schools maintain existing arrangements for identifying and supporting families who may be eligible for Free School Meals. Schools should continue to follow the current application and eligibility-checking processes, in line with Department for Education guidance, until further notification is issued by Wokingham Borough Council. Parents and carers should continue to apply through the established routes and schools should continue to actively promote and support access to the scheme.

As the auto-enrolment project progresses through testing, there will be regular updates to schools and partners. Alongside this, WBC will be developing a wider communications campaign to raise awareness of the new approach, using a range of channels including school newsletters, social media, local radio and direct communications with parents and carers.

Further updates for schools will include a finalised communication pack with suggested information for sending to parents and carers, which will be provided in due course. It is advisable that schools should not communicate with parents about this yet as the project is moving at pace and the suggested wording for communications with parents and carers is still being finalised to reflect the latest developments in the project.

Further advice and guidance

Guidance for schools and local authorities

Readiness checklist for schools

FSM council webpage for parents and carers (not yet updated)

DfE webinar on FSM changes for schools

Information concerning parents who are self-employed

Information concerning parents who have no recourse to public funds