School Meals / FSM/UIFSM
Changes to Free School Meals from September 2026:-
What is changing?
Expanded entitlement for families on Universal Credit
From the start of academic year 2026 to 2027, all children in households receiving Universal Credit will be entitled to free school meals, regardless of earnings.
Going forward, there will be two types of eligibility:
· Targeted FSM: for households in receipt of universal credit earning £7,400 or less (includes free meals and additional support such as pupil premium). Other educational entitlements such as the Holiday Activities and Food program (HAF) and the ‘extended rights’ element of school travel assistance, will also continue to be based on targeted FSM.
· Expanded FSM: for households in receipt of universal credit earning above £7,400 (free meals only)
Families with no recourse to public funds may also be eligible for Targeted FSM subject to meeting separate criteria.
All pupils in reception, year 1 and year 2 will also continue to be entitled to free school meals under the universal infant free school meals policy regardless of family circumstances.
End of transitional protections
Since 2018, some children have continued to receive free school meals, even if their family circumstances changed during the rollout of Universal Credit. This is referred to as transitional protections. Now that entitlement is being expanded to all families on Universal Credit, these protections will end at the end of the 2025 to 2026 academic year.
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Food for Life
Food for Life
You can make a claim if you fall into any of the criteria from nursery age onwards (even if your child will receive ‘universal’ infant free school meals (UIFSM) for all children in YR -Y2.
This doesn’t mean your child ‘has’ to have a school meal, they can still bring sandwiches although we will actively encourage the take up of a ‘hot’ meal.
It does mean that your child can receive free milk from Coolmilk up until they are 7 years old, receive a school packed lunch on trips out, receive reduced rate on some residential trips and can have a ‘hot’ school meal if they wish.
School receives Pupil Premium funding if they are on our data as ‘eligible’ for 'targeted' free school meals so it is really important if you fit any of the criteria above then please apply. This funding allows us to provide many benefits to your child during their education at our school (see website section 'pupil premium strategy').
To apply, please click the link below which will take you to the citizen portal where you complete your details and will get an instant reply whether you are eligible.
https://notts.cloud.servelec-synergy.com/SynergyWeb/FSM.aspx
Any further queries, please don’t hesitate to speak to the school office. Thanks