Increase in Free School Meals Rate 2024/25

It has now been confirmed that an uplift to £2.58 will be implemented for the 2024 to 2025 academic year.

New funding rates could not be announced during the pre-election period in 2024, so the allocations for the first 2024 to 2025 payments were therefore calculated using the 2023 to 2024 academic year UIFSM funding rate of £2.53.

An additional payment will be delivered alongside the final allocation for 2024 to 2025 in June/July 2025. This will be backdated to the start of the academic year.

The grant supports schools in delivering the legal requirement to offer free school meals, meeting the school food standards, to all their reception, year 1 and year 2 pupils. Subject to meeting this legal duty, schools may spend the grant for the purposes of the school; that is to say for the educational benefit of pupils registered at that school, or for the benefit of pupils registered at other schools.

They may also spend it on community facilities, for example services whose provision furthers any charitable purpose for the benefit of pupils at the school or their families, or people who live or work in the school’s locality.

Schools do not have to spend the entire grant in the financial year beginning 1 April 2024; they may carry forward some or all of the grant.