Over half a million more children will benefit from a free nutritious meal every school day, as the government puts £500 back into parents’ pockets every year by expanding eligibility for free school meals.
From the start of the 2026 school year, every pupil whose household is on Universal Credit will have a new entitlement to free school meals. This will make life easier and more affordable for parents who struggle the most, delivering on the government’s Plan for Change to break down barriers to opportunity and give children the best start in life.
The unprecedented expansion will lift 100,000 children across England completely out of poverty. Giving children access to a nutritious meal during the school day also leads to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes – meaning they get the best possible education and chance to succeed in work and life.
Since 2018, children have only been eligible for free school meals if their household income is less than £7,400 per year, meaning hundreds of thousands of children living in poverty have been unable to access free school meals.
The government’s historic new expansion to those on Universal Credit will change this and comes ahead of the Child Poverty Taskforce publishing its ten-year strategy to drive sustainable change later this year. It comes on top of targeted support for families being hit the hardest with the cost-of-living crisis, with urgent action including raising the national minimum wage, uprating benefits and supporting 700,000 families through the Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said
Working parents across the country are working tirelessly to provide for their families but are being held back by cost-of-living pressures.
My government is taking action to ease those pressures. Feeding more children every day, for free, is one of the biggest interventions we can make to put more money in parents’ pockets, tackle the stain of poverty, and set children up to learn.
This expansion is a truly historic moment for our country, helping families who need it most and delivering our Plan for Change to give every child, no matter their background, the same chance to succeed.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said
It is the moral mission of this government to tackle the stain of child poverty, and today this government takes a giant step towards ending it with targeted support that puts money back in parents’ pockets.
From free school meals to free breakfast clubs, breaking the cycle of child poverty is at the heart of our Plan for Change to cut the unfair link between background and success.
We believe that background shouldn’t mean destiny. Today’s historic step will help us to deliver excellence everywhere, for every child and give more young people the chance to get on in life.
The Government is also offering more than £13 million in funding to 12 food charities across England to redistribute thousands of tonnes of fresh produce directly from farms to fight food poverty in communities.
The Tackling Food Surplus at the Farm Gate scheme is helping farms and organisations to work collaboratively to ensure edible food that might have been left in fields instead ends up on the plates of those who need it, including schoolchildren.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said
Poverty robs children of opportunities and damages their future prospects. This is a moral scar on our society we are committed to tackling.
By expanding Free School Meals to all families on Universal Credit, we’re ending the impossible choice thousands of our hardest grafting families must make between paying bills and feeding their children.
This is just the latest step of our Plan for Change to put extra pounds in people’s pockets – a downpayment on our Child Poverty Strategy, building on our expansion of free breakfast clubs, our national minimum wage boost and our cap on Universal Credit deductions through the Fair Repayment Rate.
To ensure quality and nutrition in meals for the future, the government is also acting quickly with experts across the sector to revise the School Food Standards, so every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance.
This new entitlement will apply to children in all settings where free school meals are currently delivered, including schools, school-based nurseries and Further Education settings. We expect the majority of schools will allow parents to apply before the start of the school year 2026, by providing their National Insurance Number to check their eligibility.
Schools and local authorities will continue to receive pupil premium and home to school transport extended rights funding based on the existing free school meals threshold.
This is just the latest step in the government’s Plan for Change to break the unfair link between background and opportunity, including rolling out free breakfast clubs, expanding government-funded childcare to 30 hours a week for working parents and commitment to cap the number of branded school uniform items.
Nick Harrison, CEO of the Sutton Trust, said
This is a significant step towards taking hunger out of the classroom. Children can’t learn effectively when hungry, so this announcement not only helps to tackle the effects of child poverty, but will also likely help improve education outcomes for disadvantaged young people.
Giving free school meals to all families who are eligible for Universal Credit is also easier for parents to understand, so has the potential to increase take up rates. This is an important milestone in delivering on the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity.
Kate Anstey, head of education policy at Child Poverty Action Group said
This is fantastic news and a game-changer for children and families.
At last more kids will get the food they need to learn and thrive and millions of parents struggling to make ends meet will get a bit of breathing space.
We hope this is a sign of what’s to come in autumn’s child poverty strategy, with government taking more action to meet its manifesto commitment to reduce child poverty in the UK.
From April 2026 until the end of parliament, millions of households are set to receive a permanent yearly above inflation boost to Universal Credit. The increase, a key element of the Government’s welfare reforms to be laid before Parliament, will tackle the destitution caused by years of inaction that has left the value of the standard allowance at a 40 year low by the early 2020s.
