Guidance from Derbyshire County Council regarding free school meals.
Applying for free school meals can save families over £470 per child, per year. Therefore, schools are recommended to encourage all parents to apply using the digital portal.
Families only need to apply once for the entire school life in a Derbyshire setting, as the council's database will follow the child as they move from school to school, and the team are able to run a check on all the data we hold monthly.
Please note that the Government's transitional protection arrangements for income based free school meals ended on 1 April 2025. The arrangements were introduced in April 2018 to safeguard children's eligibility during the rollout of Universal Credit. This now means that any child/children confirmed as newly eligible for free school meals from 1 April 2025 will be subject to monthly checks to confirm their continued eligibility and are no longer protected.
It is important to note however, that this will not impact any other child/children that parents/guardians may already have with an existing income based free school meal claim entitlement. Those already confirmed as eligible before 1 April 2025 will maintain their eligibility until the end of their current phase of education (for example,primary/secondary). At that point, they will be re-assessed for their eligibility status and will only apply to children in year 6 moving into year 7. If these children are found to be eligible, they will continue to receive free school meals at the start of secondary school (year 7) but will then be subject to monthly checks to confirm their continued eligibility.
Settings will be notified via their SAM Report of any change to a student’s income based free school meal eligibility status.
Further clarification is available by contacting the Free School Meal Team by emailing checking@derbyshire.gov.uk or telephoning the team on 01629 536481.
The benefit of pupil premium is also attached to each child who is eligible for free school meals. In addition to pupil premium paid whilst the pupil is either eligible or protected, the grant is also paid for an additional 6 years after the end of eligibility for the child – also referred to as Ever6.
Children in nursery settings can also be eligible for free school meals, provided they meet the criteria. In addition to meeting the eligibility check, the child must be over 3 years of age and attend at least a two-hour session both immediately prior to and after the lunchtime period.
For further information, please contact the Checking service:
email: checking@derbyshire.gov.uk
telephone: 01629 536481
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