Free school meals extended for all pupils of families on Universal Credit
Free school meals will be extended for all pupils in England whose families claim Universal Credit from next year.
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 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.
🎉 We've won Free School Meals for 500,000+ more children! This is an incredible breakthrough. But the fight isn't over — means-testing still leaves far too many behind. We won't rest until we win #FreeSchoolMealsForAll so every primary pupil can get the best start in school.… pic.twitter.com/HrrSl92vmT
— No Child Left Behind (@NoChildBehindUK) June 5, 2025
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.
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'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 this morning (June 5) showing the number of state school pupils in England who are eligible for free school meals.
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