Who can apply?
All children in primaries 1 to 5 are entitled to free school meals, regardless of their family's income.
Entitlement to free school meals for older children, as well as the school clothing grant, is assessed as part of the application for Housing Benefit/Council Tax Reduction.
Apply for a school clothing grant or free school meals using the form below if you claim any of the following:
- Income Support
- Income-based Job Seeker's Allowance
- Income-related Employment Support Allowance
- Child Tax Credit and where your income is less than £19,995
- Working Tax Credit, and where your income is less than £19,995 (this only applies to the clothing grant)
- Support provided under Part VI the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- Universal Credit where the monthly earned income does not exceed £796
- Pupils who receive any of these benefits in their own right can also claim free school meals
Your child is also entitled to free school lunches if you receive both maximum Child Tax Credit and maximum Working Tax Credit and your income is under £9,552.
How to apply
If you are already in receipt of free school meals and/or have been awarded a school clothing grant in the current financial year, you do not need to complete a new application form. We will automatically review your entitlement and contact you for further information if necessary.
Similarly, if you have applied for or are already in receipt of:
- Housing Benefit, and/or
- Council Tax Reduction, or
- Universal Credit and have told the Department for Work and Pensions you also want to claim Council Tax Reduction
any entitlement to Free School Meals and/or School Clothing Grant will be automatically assessed and you do not need to complete a separate application form.
Apply for Free School Meals/School Clothing Grant
The clothing grant
In 2024-25 the amount for a school clothing grant for eligible primary school pupils is £130 for each child and for eligible secondary school pupils it is £160 for each child. You can only apply once in any financial year (1 April to 31 March).
Young people who are 16 years old by 30 September won’t get a grant. Apply for an Education Maintenance Allowance instead.
School meal allowances
Secondary school pupils will have an allowance of £2.40 per day and if the school operates a swipe card system their entitlement can also be used during the morning break.
This amount will be credited to the pupil's cashless catering account on a daily basis and any unused credit will be removed from the pupil's account at the end of the day.
Payments
Payments will be made every Wednesday until the school holidays in October 2024. After this, payments will be made fortnightly on a Wednesday.