Free school meals

1. Who can get free school meals

You can get free school meals if you are responsible for a child (for example, you receive Child Benefit for them) who is at school - including nursery children who attend full days at a school nursery and sixth form students - as long as you get one of these qualifying incomes:

• Income Support
• income-based Jobseekers Allowance
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Universal Credit (provided your household income is less than £7,400 a year after tax and not including any benefits you get)
• support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (provided you are not entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
• Working Tax Credit run-on paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

If your child is eligible for free school meals, they’ll remain eligible until they finish the phase of schooling (primary or secondary) they’re in on 31 March 2023.

If you have a query about free school meals you can email benefitsfsm@stockport.gov.uk.