Free school meals eligibility (England)
What is the Free school meals eligibility (England) right now?
The current figure is £7,400/year net earned income threshold · from the 2026 to 2027 academic year all Universal Credit households eligible (per year), effective from 2018-04-01 to 2026-08-31, according to DfE / gov.uk. Last checked against the official source on 2026-11-01.
gov.uk (https://www.gov.uk/apply-free-school-meals, read 1 November 2026): "From the start of academic year 2026 to 2027, your child will qualify for free school meals if you get Universal Credit, regardless of household income." The same page still states the earlier rule: "Universal Credit - if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be £7,400 a year or less (after tax and not including any benefits you get)". The £7,400 threshold is not described there as abolished.
Cite this figure
The Free school meals eligibility (England) is £7,400/year net earned income threshold · from the 2026 to 2027 academic year all Universal Credit households eligible (per year), effective 2018-04-01 to 2026-08-31. Source: DfE / gov.uk (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/free-school-meals-expansion-impact-on-poverty-levels/free-school-meals-expansion-to-all-children-on-universal-credit-impact-on-individual-and-child-poverty-levels-and-number-of-children-in-households-r), via UK Rates & Thresholds (rates.trycashpilot.com), checked 2026-11-01.
| Official source | DfE / gov.uk |
|---|---|
| Valid from | 2018-04-01 |
| Valid to | 2026-08-31 |
| Last checked | 2026-11-01 |
| Machine-readable | JSON for this figure |
History
| Previous values |
|---|
| £7,400 threshold from 2018-04-01 |