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Free School Meals

Free school meals are available to some secondary school pupils. Your child may be eligible for free school meals if you get any of the following benefits:

  • Income Support
  • Income–based Jobseeker’s Allowance
  • Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
  • Child Tax Credit if your taxable income is less than £16,190 and you are not entitled to Working Tax Credit
  • the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
  • support under Section VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
  • Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for four weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
  • Universal Credit – if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 and your household income is less than £7,400 a year after tax and before benefits

Children who get paid these benefits directly, and not through a parent or guardian, can also get free school meals. 

Your child might also get free school meals if you get any of these benefits and your child is both

How to apply

You must apply for this service using the citizens portal:

Apply for free school meals

For more information on 'free school meals', click here.

The importance of free school meals

Applying for free school meals is very important because the amount of money that EGA receives from central government depends on the number of children registered as entitled to free school meals. For every registered child, the school receives additional funds to spend on extra resources such as extracurricular activities and support for its pupils. This is called the ‘Pupil Premium’. For more information, please click here.

The government has also stated that it is keen for universities to actively recruit pupils that have previously received free school meals so it is important that those eligible for free school meals do register for them.

Further information

For further information please visit the Islington Council website and search for ‘free school meals’ or contact the Free School Meal Team on 020 7527 5483 or 020 7527 3196 or 020 7527 7815.

Islington Council Website