Universal infant free school meals grant

From the start of the 2026 to 2027 academic year, all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit will be entitled to receive a free school meal. Going forward, there will be 2 categories of benefits-based free school meals:

• Targeted free school meals (FSM), which continues to be based on the existing threshold, covering pupils who are in households in receipt of Universal Credit with annual household earnings of £7,400 or less
• expanded FSM, a new category covering pupils who do not qualify for targeted FSM, but who are in households receiving Universal Credit.

Further details about expanded FSM are included in the FSM expansion guidance.

As more children become eligible for free school meals through the expansion of eligibility, schools will receive additional funding through the FSM expansion grant. This will include funding for newly eligible infants benefitting from expanded FSM, who previously attracted funding through UIFSM.

To ensure that infants becoming eligible under the FSM expansion do not also attract funding through the UIFSM grant, the Department for Education (DfE) is temporarily adjusting the standard methodology used for calculating UIFSM provisional allocations covering September 2026 to March 2027.

This means the provisional payment will be 20% lower than it would have been without the FSM expansion. Final UIFSM payments for the September 2026 to March 2027 period will be reconciled in June 2027. Adjustments will be made as needed to ensure each school receives the correct amount overall.

No infants will lose their entitlement to a free meal as a result of these changes. They will continue to attract funding for schools if they move from being eligible for UIFSM to being eligible for benefits-based free school meals. This is being set out now to support budget planning. This is not a reduction in funding.

The meal rate uplift to £2.66 will be implemented for the 2026 to 2027 academic year, the rate was £2.61 last year.