Find out if your child can get free school meals, how to apply, and understand how to get extra funding for your school.

Pre-school children aged 2, 3 and 4 (not yet in a reception class)

Your child will be eligible for free school meals if they meet the eligibility criteria and attends:

• a maintained Nursery School (Camborne Nursery School or Truro Nursery School)
• the nursery class of a school/academy

To be eligible for a free school meal, your child will need to be attending sessions before and after lunch on that day.

Pre-school children attending:

• private or community pre-schools or nurseries
• school-based pre-schools which are not integral to the school/academy

are not eligible for free school meals, even if parents meet the eligibility criteria. If you’re not sure what type of setting your child attends, please check with the staff.

Children in Reception, Year 1 and 2

All Key Stage 1 (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2) pupils are entitled to receive a free school meal. This is part of the Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) initiative and regardless of what benefits are being claimed.

However, some children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 may also have an entitlement to benefits-related Free School Meals. Children in this group are also eligible for Pupil Premium – additional funding paid to the school to support your child in their learning. It is important to apply for benefits-related Free School Meals if you think your child may be eligible. This is so that your child’s school can receive this funding.

Your child will be eligible for benefits-related Free School Meals if you meet the eligibility criteria.

Children in Year 3 and above

Your child may be eligible for benefits-related free school meals if you, or the child themselves, meet the eligibility criteria.

If eligible for Free School Meals, your child will also be eligible for pupil premium.  This is additional funding paid to the school to support your child in their learning.

Free school meals eligibility criteria if you receive benefits

A child is eligible for free school meals if their parent/carer (or the child themselves) receives any of the following benefits:

• Universal Credit (provided you have an annual net earned income of no more than £7,400, as assessed by earnings from up to three of your most recent assessment periods)
• Income Support (IS)
• Job Seekers’ Allowance (Income-Based) and equal based Job Seekers Allowance
• Income Related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA-IR) and equal based Employment and Support Allowance
• Child Tax Credit (CTC) provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190
• Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
• Guarantee Element of Pension Credit (GPC)
• Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (IAA) Supports

There are different eligibility criteria for families who are not entitled to benefits (NRPF – No Recourse to Public Funds)

Free School Meal transitional protections 

The benefit related free school meal (FSM) protections policy was introduced in 2018.  It was introduced to protect those eligible for benefit related FSM from becoming ineligible while Universal Credit (UC) was being rolled out.

The transitional protection ended on 31 March 2025.

Any pupil who is in receipt of Benefit Related Free School Meals immediately prior to or after the 1 April 2018 will continue to receive until their entitlement to a free meal until their current phase of education, i.e., primary or secondary.

Entitlements for year 6 children will be reviewed at the end of the Summer Term. If you still meet the eligibility criteria, the entitlement will automatically be transferred to the new secondary school. If you no longer meet the eligibility criteria, the entitlement will be cancelled.

Apply for Free School Meals

You can apply for Free School Meals and Pupil Premium online.

Please ensure you have read the important information on this page before applying.

Apply for free school meals