Free School Meals

There are two options:

- Universal Infant Free School Meals - for all children in Reception Year, Year 1 and Year 2.  These are automatically given to the School and you do not need to apply for them.

- Free School Meals - for those on qualifying benefits. 

From January 2024 there will be a change to the Free School Meals system. This means parents/carers will be able to apply through the Citizen’s Portal that has been used to apply for school places.

Please note this means schools will no longer be able to check free school meal entitlement themselves as parents need to use their Citizen’s Portal log in to make an application.

The webpage will still be the same: www.n-somerset.gov.uk/freeschoolmeals

Criteria for Free School Meals

Children whose parents or carers receive any of these benefits are entitled to Free School Meals:

• Income Support.
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA).
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).
• Child Tax Credit, provided you are not entitled to Working Tax Credit and you have an annual income, as assessed by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, that does not exceed £16,190.
• You receive support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
• The guarantee element of State Pension Credit.
• Working Tax Credit run-on, paid for four weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit.
• Universal Credit with annual take home payment earnings below £7,400 (which equals £616.67 per month) benefits not included.

To receive further information on the Free School Meals application process please click here