Free school meals: obligations on schools

The Department for Education’s non-statutory “free school meals” guidance is designed to help maintained schools, academies and free schools understand their obligation to provide free school meals to disadvantaged pupils.

Checking eligibility

Pursuant to the Education Act 1996, maintained schools and academies, including free schools, are required to provide free school meals to disadvantaged pupils aged 5 – 16. The school has ultimate responsibility for checking the eligibility of applicants for free school meals. However, it is not uncommon for schools to coordinate with the local authority to conduct these checks.

Schools which do not currently coordinate eligibility checks with their local authority may find that doing so can improve efficiency. The local authority can access the department’s Eligibility Checking System, which allows local authorities to promptly access data held by the Department for Work and Pensions, the Home Office and HMRC to establish free school meal eligibility.

It is for the school to decide how they wish to receive applications from parents, for instance via paper form or online. However, it should be kept in mind that some parents may not have the ability to access an online system, and appropriate systems should be put in place in such instances.

The department’s aim is for as many eligible pupils as possible to claim their free school meals and recommend that school use its updated model registration form for paper-based applications from parents.

Provision of free school meals

As well as having ultimate responsibility for conducting eligibility checks, schools are required to provide healthy and nutritious meals for eligible pupils. However, this will not always be possible. For example, when there is a school closure such as during extreme weather, alternative arrangements will be necessary. This may mean, for example, providing a food parcel or food vouchers.

It is also recognised that, in some cases, reasonable adjustments will need to be made to allow a pupil to access their free school meal. In accordance with the Equality Act 2010, schools have a duty to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ for disabled pupils to prevent them being put at a substantial disadvantage in comparison with pupils who are not disabled, including pupils who are eligible for free school meals.

For example, children with sensory needs may have a restricted diet. Therefore, it may be more effective to provide the parent with food vouchers, allowing them to prepare a lunch for their child which meets the restricted diet.

To put in place the most suitable adjustments, schools should work with the pupil, their family and any other professionals involved, to agree the necessary support. We recommend that the agreed support is recorded and communicated to staff, as well as regularly reviewing the support to ensure that it remains appropriate and is adjusted where necessary.