Changes to Free School Meals

Following the introduction of Universal Credit, any pupil entitled to Free School Meals at any point from 1st April 2018 had this entitlement protcted.

This protection ended on 31st July 2026.

As a result all claims need to be rechecked between 1st June 2026 and1st October 2026 for validity. Pupils will be returned by the checking service as:

• Entitled to targeted FSM - household in receipt of Universal Credit with annual net income of less than £7,400

• Entitled to expanded FSM - household in receipt of Universal Credit regardless of annual earnings

• Not entitled

This information needs to be entered to the MIS along with the country of entitlement - please see notes on typical examples here

Pupil Premium Funding - a note

The census collects information which the DfE uses to identify which pupils will attract Pupil Premium funding and not entitlement to this funding.

Pupils entitled to targeted FSM will attract pupil premium and other disadvantaged funding.

In addition pupils in receipt of Free School Meals as at 31st July 2026 will continue to attract pupil premium and other disadvantaged funding for up to 6 years after this date.