Free school meals: how many children can claim them?

As reported by the BBC, chef Jamie Oliver wants the government to extend free school meals to all children living in households on universal credit

The government said it would keep eligibility criteria under review, but how many pupils currently qualify?

In England and Wales, children aged four to 16 are eligible for free school meals if they live in a household which gets income-related benefits (such as universal credit) and has an annual income of less than £7,400 after tax, not including welfare payments.

But about 40% of universal credit claimants have jobs. So you can receive the benefit, but earn more than the threshold, meaning your children don’t qualify for free school meals.

The income cap is £7,920 in Scotland, and £14,000 in Northern Ireland.

In England, all infant state school pupils (Reception to year two) can have free school meals during term time – regardless of household income.

Scotland’s free school meal programme covers pupils in P1 – P5.

The Welsh government will provide free school meals for all primary school pupils by 2024, beginning with Reception pupils this September.

In June 2022, around 1.9m children were entitled to free school meals in England – 22.5% of the student population.

That represents a nine per cent increase from 2021, when 1.74m pupils were eligible.

In addition to this, another 1.25m pupils receive free meals under the universal free school meal provision for infant schools.