Free School Meals
If you have a child at secondary school in Southwark, they may be able to get free school meals during term time if you get a qualifying benefit.
Qualifying benefits
Targeted FSM: households on Universal Credit with annual household earnings of £7,400 or less.
Expanded FSM: households on Universal Credit with annual household earnings above £7,400.
You may also be eligible if you get:
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit
- your family receives Home Office asylum support (under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999)
- your family has a no recourse to public funds immigration condition and meets the relevant eligibility criteria.
If your circumstances have changed (for example, you no longer receive Universal Credit), your child may not be eligible.
Pupils who did get a free meal through our free healthy secondary school meal scheme will continue to get a free meal if they are eligible for Expanded FSM.
How it works
Most children will get a daily lunch meal allowance using a cashless payment system which will be explained by the school.
The cashless system helps protect pupils’ privacy when accessing their meal entitlement.
Unspent allowance balances are not carried forward.
Click the link below to see how to apply for free school meals in Southwark