FROM September 2026, all children in England whose parents receive Universal Credit will be eligible for free school meals, regardless of household income, the government has announced.
Under the current rules, families must earn less than £7,400 a year to qualify.
The change is expected to make 500,000 more pupils eligible. Prime minister Keir Starmer said the move would “help families who need it most.” The Department for Education has allocated £1 billion to fund the expansion until 2029 and has also pledged £13 million to 12 food charities to redistribute surplus farm food.
Ministers said the new eligibility criteria would save families £500 a year and could lift 100,000 children out of poverty. However, Christine Farquharson from the Institute for Fiscal Studies said the figure was unlikely to be reached next year. She noted that protections introduced in 2018 already extended free school meal eligibility.
The announcement has been welcomed by education groups and anti-poverty campaigners. Nick Harrison of the Sutton Trust called it a “significant step,” while the Child Poverty Action Group said the policy now covers “all children in poverty and those at risk.”
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told the BBC ministers were “working as quickly as we can” to implement the plan. On the separate issue of the two-child benefit cap, Phillipson said it was “on the table” but added it was not a “silver bullet” and would be costly to scrap.
BBC reported that the total number of pupils on free school meals in England is currently about 2.1 million, or 24.6 per cent of all pupils.
