Eligibility for Free School Meals

Eligibility for Free School Meals

A parliamentary debate regarding Free School Meals took place on Tuesday 18 March 2025 in Westminster Hall. Stephen Morgan MP, the Under-Secretary of State for Education made the following statement:

“Transitional protections were put in place to ensure that children whose families were moving from legacy benefits to universal credit did not lose out. We will move to the next phase of transitional protections from 31 March, and I can assure hon. Members that no pupil will feel any change until after the summer. As with all Government policy, we will keep our approach to free school meals under review.”

Therefore, although Suffolk County Council (SCC) has not been informed directly by the Department for Education (DfE), they are adopting the view that transitional protection for Free School Meals (FSM) will be ending on 31 March 2025.

This means any pupil confirmed as eligible for free school meals from 1 April 2025 will be subject to ongoing checks by SCC FSM team to confirm continued eligibility.

This will not impact any children who are already confirmed as eligible. These children will maintain their eligibility until the end of their current phase of education. At that point, they will be re-assessed for their eligibility status by SCC FSM team.

This will apply to all Year 6 pupils moving into Year 7 in September 2025. These pupils will then be subject to a check by SCC over the summer and then ongoing checks to confirm continued eligibility.

Suffolk County Council has asked schools to remind parents and carers, who do not have a current claim or eligibility for FSM, to apply for FSM between now and the end of March 2025 if they think their child may be eligible, to ensure their claim and future funding are protected. Only applications processed before 1 April 2025 will maintain transitional protection. 

Please visit Apply for free schools meals – Suffolk County Council (suffolk.gov.uk) to submit an application.

The Government have not currently provided updated FSM guidance and therefore SCC does not have information, at this time, on the regularity of the checks or whether there will be any other changes to eligibility or processes.

SCC will update schools once the guidance is published and if you have any queries in the meantime, please send them to the free School Meals Team at freeschoolmeals@suffolk.gov.uk