By registering your child for FSM, you can also allow the school to receive additional funding to support learning, wellbeing and enrichment opportunities for all pupils.
The Government has announced changes to FSM eligibility from 1st September 2026. These changes may affect families who currently receive FSM, as well as those who may be eligible in the future.
Since April 2018, children who became eligible for Free School Meals have continued to receive them, even if their family circumstances later changed. This protection will end by the end of the 2025/26 school year.
This means that all FSM eligibility will need to be reassessed by your local authority before 31st August 2026.
This applies to:
If your child is confirmed as eligible during this period, they will continue to receive free school meals for the whole of the 2026/27 school year, even if your circumstances change during that year. You will then need to reapply for the new school year (27/28) to review your eligibility.
This includes Free School Meals and additional Pupil Premium funding for the school.
Your child may be eligible if you receive:
This includes Free School Meals only – no additional Pupil Premium funding for the school.
You may be eligible if you receive Universal Credit and your household income is above £7,400 per year.
There will be no immediate changes to Free School Meals. All existing FSM arrangements will continue until the end of the 2025/26 school year.
From July 2026, Nottingham City Council (NCC) will introduce an opt-out auto-award approach to Free School Meals (FSM). This approach helps to make sure that children in Nottingham who are entitled to FSM do not miss out on receiving them. The scheme will also support schools with additional funding opportunities.
Children can receive FSM if their family meets certain UK government criteria. Opt-out auto award means drawing on existing Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) data and city council records to identify and register entitled children for FSM, without their family needing to apply.
Families can still choose not to take part (this is called opting out). But if they do nothing, their child will be registered for the next school census.
More details about how this process works are at the bottom of this page.
Free school meals (FSM) help support families with lower incomes. Yet many children who are entitled are not registered, and children are missing out on nutritious meals. Schools also miss out on vital pupil premium funding, intended to further support pupils.
Opt-out auto-award has already been successfully introduced in several areas across the UK. There are many benefits, including:
Opt-out auto-award helps to reduce under-registration, ensuring all entitled pupils have the opportunity to receive a FSM.
NCC’s new opt-out auto-award process will be even more important from September 2026, when FSM eligibility is extended to all households receiving Universal Credit.
We want to make sure that all entitled children benefit from receiving these meals.
Please find more information by clicking the button below:
You may be eligible if you receive certain benefits including:
Yes. Although all children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 receive Universal Infant Free School Meals, registering for benefits-related FSM can provide additional funding for the school, which is also known as Pupil Premium.
Registering your child for FSM offers financial savings for you as a family by providing a nutritious, tasty meal each school day. You may also have access to holiday food and activity programmes.
The school will also receive extra funding to benefit all children by supporting wellbeing, enrichment and learning opportunities.
YES.
All applications are handled confidentially. Other pupils or parents/carers will not know that your child receives free school meals.
YES.
If your financial circumstances change during the school year, you can apply at any time.
NO.
Applying for free school meals will not affect any other benefits or support you currently receive.
