Free school meals

Is my child eligible for free school meals?

• All children in key stage 1 are entitled to a free meal, however, if you are in receipt of any of the below benefits, please do apply for free school meals, as this will generate additional funding for your child's school

• The Greater London Authority has provided funding to local authorities to extend this entitlement to year groups 3 to 6, from September 2023 to July 2024. This has now been extended for another year until July 2025.

In the above cases, children will receive the entitlements automatically, but it is really important for parents on a low income, or who are in receipt of certain benefits, to apply for mean-tested free school meals in order for your child's school to receive extra funding.

Nursery aged children eligible for free school meals must be receiving education before and after lunch to be entitled to free school meals.

Children in junior and senior school – year 3 to year 11

Your child could be eligible for free school meals if you or your partner receive a qualifying benefit.

• income support
• income-based job seeker's allowance
• income-related employment and support allowance
• the guarantee element of state pension credit
• support under part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• child tax credit (but not working tax credit) and have an annual income of less than £16,190
• working tax credit run-on – paid for four 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 (after tax and not including any benefits you get)

If you do not receive the above benefits please contact your school to apply. 

Apply for free school meals

Application form

After you apply

Once you have applied we will assess your application. 

• If entitled we will let you and the school know and the entitlement will start straight away.
• On some occasions, we may need to contact you for further information to assess your application.

How long will my child get free school meals?

If entitled your child will get free school meals until March 2025, and then until the end of their current phase of education, i.e. primary or secondary, regardless of any changes to you or your partner's income.

Automatic Award for Free School Meals 

Based on the information we hold about Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support, we have found that a significant number of households may meet the criteria for free school meals but have not yet made an application.

We want to increase the number of pupils in Kingston claiming free school meals, which will increase funding available to schools in the borough, as well as benefitting pupils directly who are entitled but not currently receiving a free meal.  We will be using this information to automatically award free school meals between November 2024 and March 2025.

Those families who may qualify for free school meals but haven’t applied are being contacted by letter to explain how the Automatic Award / enrolment works.

We have produced an FAQ for your further information.