Apply for free school meals

Schools should provide meal options for all children attending school. Meals are available free of charge to:

• all infant pupils (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2) – known as universal FSM
• pupils who meet the free school meals eligibility criteria – known as benefits-related FSM. This includes pupils in school-based nurseries and maintained nursery schools.

For the new school year starting in September 2026, there will be two categories of free school meal eligibility depending on your financial circumstances:

• Targeted free school meals for those getting Universal Credit with annual household earnings of £7,400 or less, or another qualifying benefit
• Expanded free school meals for anyone getting Universal credit whose annual earnings are above £7,400.

Households in both categories will benefit from the financial savings of getting free school meals.

Households who fall into the targeted category will get access to additional benefits:

• Holiday activities and food (HAF) programme is for children aged 4 to 16 in reception to year 11 in receipt of benefits-related free school meals in the targeted category. HAF offers eligible pupils access to activities and at least one healthy meal is provided during each session. The activities take place during the Easter, summer, and Christmas school holidays
• Pupil premium is extra funding paid directly to schools for each pupil who is eligible for free school meals in the Targeted category. It can help to fund valuable teaching and learning support to improve pupil’s education.

If your child is currently eligible for free school meals, you do not need to do anything. We will re-check the eligibility of all currently eligible children and will contact you over the summer holidays to let you know if your child will still be eligible for free school meals for the 2026/27 school year (and which category they fall into), or whether we need more information from you to check this. Alternatively, your child's school may contact you about this if they are completing this process on their own.

If your child has never received free school meals before, then you will be able to apply via a form on this page at the beginning of August 2026, as long as your child attends a school who works with us on free school meals. A list of schools this includes will be published here closer to the time. If your child's school is not on this list, then you will need to contact the school directly to apply as they will have their own process. Once you have applied for free school meals, if your child is eligible, they will remain eligible for that whole school year, regardless of any changes to your circumstances.

Warwickshire County Council will then store your data, and at the beginning of each new school year, will automatically check if your child is still eligible for free school meals and notify you of the outcome. Please contact us if you no longer wish for us to carry out this process. 

Please note, if you are applying for a nursery-aged child please call or email us to do this instead.

If your child is in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2, they will automatically be entitled to universal infant free school meals - you do not have to apply for these. However, if you do meet the benefits-related free school meals eligibility criteria, then it is advised you apply as you may receive the additional benefits described above.

Need help with your application?

If you have any questions or need support with applying for free school meals, please contact the Family Information Service by emailing freemeals@warwickshire.gov.uk or calling 0800 408 1558 (freephone).

If you are unable to complete the free school meal application on your own device, please note all Warwickshire County Council managed libraries have computers with internet that are bookable in advance online, by phone or ask in the library. Lenovo 10 tablets (without data) are held at core hub libraries (e.g. Leamington, Nuneaton, Rugby, Stratford) and can be borrowed for up to 6 weeks. Loans are free of charge to adult library members. Devices must be returned to the library at the end of the loan period.

If you have your own device but no access to the internet, you can get free wifi access on your laptop and mobile device at all Warwickshire County Council managed libraries.

Libraries also provide IT support sessions and access to free online courses.

You Can Online provides more information.