All pupils in families on universal credit to be entitled to free school meals
Hundreds of thousands more children across the country will be able to access means-tested free school meals when the provision is extended from September 2026, the Department for Education (DfE) has said.
Currently, households in England on universal credit must earn below £7,400 a year (after tax and not including benefits) to qualify for free school meals.
But the Government has announced that every pupil whose household is on universal credit will have a new entitlement to free school lunches from the start of the 2026/27 academic year.
The move comes after campaigners and education leaders have called for free school meals to be extended to all children whose families are on universal credit to ease pressures on young people living in poverty.
Nearly 2.1 million pupils – almost one in four of all pupils (24.6%) – in England were eligible for free school meals in January 2024.
The DfE has said more than half-a-million more children are expected to benefit from a free meal every school day as a result of the expansion, and nearly £500 will be put back into parents' pockets every year.
It suggested that the expansion will lift 100,000 children across England completely out of poverty.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: 'Feeding more children every day, for free, is one of the biggest interventions we can make to put more money in parents' pockets, tackle the stain of poverty, and set children up to learn.
'This expansion is a truly historic moment for our country, helping families who need it most and delivering our Plan for Change to give every child, no matter their background, the same chance to succeed.'
The DfE is due to release data on Thursday morning showing the number of state school pupils in England who are eligible for free school meals.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: 'It is the moral mission of this government to tackle the stain of child poverty, and today this government takes a giant step towards ending it with targeted support that puts money back in parents' pockets.
'From free school meals to free breakfast clubs, breaking the cycle of child poverty is at the heart of our Plan for Change to cut the unfair link between background and success.
'We believe that background shouldn't mean destiny. Today's historic step will help us to deliver excellence everywhere, for every child and give more young people the chance to get on in life.'
The Government's child poverty taskforce is due to publish its 10-year strategy later this year.
Nick Harrison, chief executive of the Sutton Trust social mobility charity, said: 'This is a significant step towards taking hunger out of the classroom.
'Children can't learn effectively when hungry, so this announcement not only helps to tackle the effects of child poverty, but will also likely help improve education outcomes for disadvantaged young people.
'Giving free school meals to all families who are eligible for universal credit is also easier for parents to understand, so has the potential to increase take-up rates.'
Kate Anstey, head of education policy at the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) charity, said: 'This is fantastic news and a game-changer for children and families.
'At last, more kids will get the food they need to learn and thrive and millions of parents struggling to make ends meet will get a bit of breathing space.
'We hope this is a sign of what's to come in autumn's child poverty strategy, with government taking more action to meet its manifesto commitment to reduce child poverty in the UK.'
Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: 'There's some detail to be worked through on exactly how this transition will work and we look forward to talking with the Government about that.
'But, certainly, expanding free school meal eligibility in this way is absolutely the right thing to do.'
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said: 'We join families and schools across England in welcoming this necessary and overdue first step in expanding free school meals eligibility.
'The existing threshold had been unchanged since 2018, meaning hundreds of thousands of children in poverty were missing out on the nutrition they need to thrive.'
But he added that many children in families who just miss out on being eligible for universal credit will also 'miss out on a hot, healthy school meal'.
Mr Kebede said: 'Ensuring that a free school meal is available to all children is the next urgent step that must be taken.'
The Liberal Democrats said the change was a 'victory for thousands of passionate campaigners' but was 'only a first step' towards helping children in poverty.
The party's education spokeswoman Munira Wilson MP said: 'Liberal Democrats have been pushing hard for this crucial change for years. It's a victory for thousands of passionate campaigners that the Government has finally listened.'
She added: 'To end the cost-of-learning crisis, the Government needs to commit to auto-enrolling eligible children for free school meals, lifting the two-child benefit cap, and capping uniform costs to truly change the lives of children in poverty. We'll hold their feet to the fire to make sure today's change is just a start.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News
36 minutes ago
- Sky News
Starmer will be breathing a sigh of relief after clinching shock victory over SNP and Reform UK
Anything other than a win for Labour would have been a humiliation in this contest. It wasn't any old local by-election - this was a contest where Labour knew it could act as a mini barometer of Sir Keir Starmer's recent U-turn on winter fuel payments and become a test of how popular the politics of Nigel Farage are in Scotland. Labour are power hungry and have, for a long time, set their sights on forming the next Scottish government. The prime minister will this morning be breathing a sigh of relief after clinching this shock victory over the SNP and Reform UK. 1:01 This contest on the outskirts of Glasgow came at a time where Labour had been firefighting and grappling with polling suggesting they had blown their chances of ousting the SNP from power in Edinburgh after almost 20 years. The SNP had a spring in their step during this campaign after a chaotic couple of years. First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney had apparently stemmed the bleeding after the infamous police fraud investigation, endless fallout over gender identity reforms, and last year's general election where they were almost wiped out. This result leaves them no further forward than 12 months ago with questions over the party's strategy. Reform UK is very much in the Scottish picture now, finishing a few hundred votes behind the nationalists. This is a party led by a man who barely registered any support north of the border for many years. A remarkable transformation. The surge in support has spooked many because they know fine well Nigel Farage is only just getting started. One poll had Reform UK forming the next official opposition at Holyrood. After tonight, that might be a tall order but Mr Farage is shaking things up at the expense of the Conservatives. The unpredictable nature of this contest may give us a taste of what is to come.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
How much money Elon Musk lost because of feud with Donald Trump
The controversial former-head of DOGE Elon Musk has reportedly lost more than $34billion from his personal net worth after his fall from grace at the White House and very online break up with the US President. Shares in Musk's Tesla also dropped more than 14 per cent at the end of yesterday, losing about $150billion in market value - the largest single-day decline in the company's history. It is the second largest loss of personal net worth, beaten only by Musk's own wipe out again in November 2021, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index of the 500 wealthiest people on the planet. He remains the richest man in the world, with a huge $334.5 billion fortune. Musk, who officially left the White House last week, reached a peak of nearly $500 billion in the months after Trump's election success. The valuation of his companies had surged thanks to the belief they would profit from his close relationship with Trump and his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency, it was reported. But his government contracts with the US were on the line last night as he continued to take part in a savage war with words against Donald Trump, with their partnership breaking down over a tax-cut and spending bill. 'The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts," Trump posted on Truth Social. The withdrawal would have potentially huge consequences for his Tesla and SpaceX revenue. SpaceX has been awarded over $17 billion in government contracts since 2015, according to ABC news. Much of that money comes from NASA and the Department of Defence. One of Trump's oldest advisors, Steve Bannon, went further and suggested the government seize SpaceX under the Defense Production Act - a move that would undoubtedly trigger challenges. Musk, who had threatened to decommission the SpaceX Dragon capsule - a critical lifeline for transporting American astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station - ultimately retreated. After a user on X suggested he 'cool off and take a step back for a couple of days', Musk abruptly posted: 'Good advice. Ok, we won't decommission Dragon.' It was not before he claimed that Trump is 'in the Epstein files', suggested that he should be impeached and replaced with 40-year-old Vice President J.D. Vance. Moments before the Epstein charge, Trump had taken to Truth Social and said he had asked Musk to leave his administration and said the billionaire went 'CRAZY!' With that, Musk announced that it was 'time to drop a really big bomb.' This 2014 image shows Elon Musk (right) alongside Ghislaine Maxwell (left) who facilitated Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking ring. She's currently serving time in federal prison '@RealDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public,' Musk wrote. 'Have a nice day, DJT!' Jeffrey Epstein is a serial child sex offender who died in prison in 2019. Trump pledged to release the files related to Epstein, with Attorney General Pam Bondi releasing some pages in February, but most of that information was already in the public domain. 'Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out,' Musk added. Asked for comment, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Daily Mail in a statement: 'This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted.' The brawl started when the X-owner had originally campaigned to stop the 'disgusting abomination' of the x bill which he believed would contribute too much to the country's $36.2 trillion debt. Trump's big, beautiful bill' called for getting rid off electric vehicle tax credits - the cause of Musk's frustration, according to Trump. Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. estimated that the bill would cut about $1.2 billion from Tesla's full-year profit. Despite staying quiet at first, Trump then told reporters he was 'very disappointed' in Musk and they 'had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore'. Musk immediately responded via tweet, saying: 'Without me, Trump would have lost the election'. He had spent nearly $300 million backing Trump's campaign among other other Republicans in last year's election. However, the drastic drop in net worth might not reveal the true impact on Musk who increasingly relies on his private enterprises as a source, it was reported in Bloomberg.
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Illegal immigration is turning us into a lockdown society
The mild weather has, we are told, exacerbated the problem of small boats crossing the English Channel. The pledge to 'smash the gangs' is no longer being repeated endlessly by Labour spokespeople (perhaps the recent sunny weather distracted Border Force?) But fear not. The Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, has a plan. She thinks a gigantic governmental IT project is what is now needed to get a grip on the explosion in immigration. Whenever politicians run out of road in trying to solve a problem, it's never long before the introduction of ID cards rears its ugly head. One might say this is an exercise using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, but that would be unfair. The issues at stake tend to be rather bigger than nuts – terrorism, mass uncontrolled immigration, widespread welfare fraud and the like. No, it's more like wildly swinging a sledgehammer in an idiotic attempt to repair a window. The way ID schemes work is to split the population into two cohorts – one which is entitled to something and one which isn't. You want to visit your local GP? You'd better whip out your digital ID card to do so. A police officer doesn't like the cut of your jib and wonders if you should be in the UK at all? You'd be advised to have data on hand to prove your citizenship. Three problems immediately emerge. First, the law-abiding majority are obliged to undertake an ever-increasing number of checks and tests to go about their ordinary lives. Second, it assumes that the people you want to collar are not adept at melting into the black market economy. How many employers are hiring large numbers of illegal immigrants unknowingly and were genuinely just about to get round to making sure they all had the right to work here? None. Third, it relies on the state actually operating a complex IT system successfully. We have surely learnt over recent years that in the vast number of ways the government is able to waste huge tranches of taxpayers' money, botched IT projects are probably top of the list. You can bank on a new digital ID system to break, be littered with errors or both. Ronald Reagan's old dictum – 'there are no easy solutions, but there are simple solutions' – is typically honoured in the breach. The Home Secretary is overreaching for a solution which is difficult and complex but – she is hoping – avoids being especially controversial. Instead, to tackle the immigration disaster, we need to get back to basics. The vast numbers of people coming to our shores are doing so because enforcement is weak, the legal system is soft and the incentives to come here are too great. If you are unwilling or unable to deal with those root causes, there is no database – however magical you may imagine it to be – that will be of much assistance. The reason we have failed to deport many undesirables is not because we are sitting across a desk from them and can't identify who they are or what they are entitled to. Rather it's because our asylum system works at a snail's pace, allows fatuous appeals under human rights legislation, and the package of goodies you receive while you are here is too good to resist. We need to speed up the system so claims take eighteen days (or, ideally, eighteen hours) to process rather than eighteen months. We must ensure that your child's preference for British-made chicken nuggets is not an admissible basis for resisting deportation. We have to find a more robust way of policing the English Channel. None of these are easy to achieve, but they are simple to grasp. Instead, the political elite – this time in the form of Yvette Cooper – prefers to rush down the rabbit hole of believing a flashy computerised system is the answer to our prayers. It probably won't happen. It certainly won't work.
