Free school meals

These are the Government’s eligibility criteria for benefits-related Free School Meals (FSM):

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• The guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (provided you're not also entitled to Working Tax Credit) and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190
• Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
• Universal Credit - if you apply on or after 1 April 2018, your household income must be less than £7,400 a year. This is equal to £616.67 a month (after tax and not including any benefits you get) to qualify for benefits-related Free School Meals (FSM)

If you are entitled to Working Tax Credit (apart from during the four-week run-on period), you will not qualify for FSM, even if you have a low income.

If you are receiving Child Tax Credit only, your annual income must be less than £16,190 to qualify.

If your family has No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF), you may also be entitled to free meals. Please speak with your child’s school about this.

To apply for Free School Meals, please speak with your child's school.

You will need to provide the school with:

• your full name
• your date of birth and
• your National Insurance (NI) number or asylum support reference number

Your child's school will then share your details with City of Wolverhampton Council. We check eligibility using a secure Government website.

If we find you eligible for FSM, your child's school will let you know. If we don’t find you eligible, we will continue to check your eligibility.

Schools receive valuable Government funding (Pupil Premium) for every child registered for FSM. Even if your child chooses not to eat school meals, we would still encourage you to register.

If your child is due to start school in Reception in September, or any other year group and they don’t already have a benefits-related Free School Meals (FSM) claim in place, you will need to provide your details (full name, date of birth and National Insurance (NI) or asylum support reference number) to your child’s school. Your details will be shared with us for eligibility checking in readiness for the start of the new academic year.

If your child is due to move school and already has a benefits-related Free School Meals (FSM) claim in place, you do not need to apply again.

Your child’s entitlement to free meals should be communicated between schools through their Common Transfer File (CTF). Schools in Wolverhampton can also contact us to confirm any claims on our secure database.

Your child’s new school may request additional information from you for your child’s claim to be recorded.

Please contact your child’s school with any questions about school meals. Menus, providers and arrangements vary from school to school.

City of Wolverhampton Council does not provide uniform grants. In partnership with the Wolverhampton City Credit Union (WCCU) Child Savers Account, match funding of up to £75 is available towards the cost of purchasing a school uniform. Uniform policies and costs vary from school to school. Please contact your child’s school with any questions about school uniform.

For information about activities and food during school holidays, please visit yowolves.co.uk

If you have any questions about the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme available during the main school holidays (Summer, Christmas, Easter), please call the helpline – 01902 916994 (during office hours Mondays to Fridays, excluding Bank Holidays) – which opens shortly before the main school holidays.

For information about support available for all City of Wolverhampton residents, please visit:

• Cost of Living Support
• Stay Safe Be Kind
• Money Helper Service
• Citizens Advice

Please visit www.localofferwolves.co.uk for information about the Wolverhampton Local Offer and how it can help support children and young people aged between 0-25 with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

Please visit www.yowolves.co.uk for events and services within Wolverhampton that support children, young people and their parents/carers.

If you need urgent help with providing food for your child/ren, please contact your child/ren’s school/s. Or, email Stay Safe Be Kind: staysafebekind@wolverhampton.gov.uk or call 01902 290241. The helpline is open during office hours, Mondays to Fridays, excluding Bank Holidays.

Transitional protections apply from 1 April 2018, until the end of the 2025/26 school year. Pupils becoming eligible for free school meals under the benefits-based criteria in this time, will continue to receive free meals until the end of the 2025/26 school year.

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

From the start of the 2026/27 academic year, it is the Department for Education’s intention that all protections will be discontinued, alongside an extension to the eligibility criteria for free school meals. From this point, households must meet the eligibility criteria to be entitled to free school meals.

While transitional protections are in effect, schools and local authorities do not need to keep eligibility for free school meals under continued review. This applies until the end of the 2025/26 school year.

It is the Department for Education’s intention to discontinue transitional protections from the start of the 2026/27 school year. From this point, households will need to meet the eligibility criteria in order to be entitled to a free meal.

From the beginning of the 2026/27 academic year, schools and local authorities will need to keep free school meal eligibility under continued review. Schools and local authorities should recheck eligibility for all pupils in receipt of free meals, ahead of the October census.

The Department does not expect rechecks of eligibility to be carried out more than once a year to prevent families from experiencing any sudden loss of entitlement during the school year.

If you no longer qualify through NASS or Pension Credit, you should tell your child’s school or the FSM Eligibility Checking Service direct. We will then recheck your eligibility.

Transitional Protection does not apply to siblings who don’t have a claim registered in their own name. This means some of your children may be entitled to free meals but others aren’t.

Under the Government’s UIFSM scheme, all children in Reception, Years 1 and 2 can enjoy school meals during term-time for free, regardless of their family’s financial circumstances.

UIFSM are not the same as benefits-related Free School Meals (FSM).

You do not need to register for UIFSM.

Your child's school may ask if your child will be taking meals so that they can make the necessary arrangements.

Please ask your child/ren’s school/s any questions you have about your child/ren’s school meals.

Arrangements and school meal providers vary across the City.

Please visit School Menus for information about school meals provided by the Council.

If you have any other questions about free meals, please email: freeschoolmeals@wolverhampton.gov.uk or contact your child’s school.