Free school meals
Children in reception, year 1 and year 2 at maintained schools automatically get free school meals. Your child may also be eligible for free school meals beyond year 2 if the criteria is met.
Christmas holiday free school meal vouchers
Schools have now issued vouchers to all parents that are eligible for free school meals.
If you have redeemed your code but have not yet received your voucher, contact Edenred on 0333 4005932
Free school meals for reception, year 1 and 2 children
All children in reception, year 1 and year 2 classes are entitled to universal infant free school meals. If you meet the qualifying criteria listed below, completing an application could help your children's school get valuable extra funding through the pupil premium.
Who is eligible for free school meals?
- Income support
- Income-based jobseeker's allowance
- Income-related employment and support allowance
- National asylum seeker support
- Child tax credit (provided you’re not also entitled to working tax credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
- The guaranteed element of state pension credit
- Working tax credit run-on - paid for four weeks after you stop qualifying for working tax credit.
- Universal credit with annual net earned income of less than £7,400
How to apply for free school meals
You should only apply for free school meals if you receive one of the benefits listed above. For universal infant free school meals, speak to your child's school.
What is the pupil premium?
The pupil premium is extra funding the government gives to schools to raise the achievement of disadvantaged pupils. The amount a school receives depends on the number of pupils eligible for free school meals.
Parents are encouraged to register their children, even if:
- they do not want to eat school meals
- they already receive universal infant free school meals.
This is in order to raise extra money for the school, which can be used towards extra tuition, learning assistants or after school clubs.
Get in touch
If you have any questions on free school meals or need support with your application, please email: education-fsm@leicester.gov.uk or call 0116 454 1009 (option 3).