Free school meals for nursery and infant aged children and those in care
Children in nursery can get free school meals if they make an application and meet the income rules and are officially registered as pupils at a local authority school, academy, or free school nursery. They can get a free meal on days when they are in education both before and after lunchtime.
A child must be main‑registered at the school to count as a pupil. Children who are only visiting the school (for example, as a ‘guest’) or who are only registered with a separate nursery provider cannot get free school meals.
If you are not sure whether your child is registered as a pupil at the school, please ask the school before you apply. The Free School Meals Entitlement Checking Service cannot help with this.
All children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 get a free school meal. You do not need to apply, and you do not need to meet any rules. This is called Universal Infant Free School Meals. However, if your family gets certain benefits, we still ask you to apply for income‑based free school meals. This helps the school get extra funding to support your child.
Children who are being fostered usually cannot get income‑based free school meals, because the fostering allowance is meant to cover the cost of their meals.
