Free School Meals

Transitional protection

From 1 April 2018, transitional protections were implemented by the Department for Education (DfE) in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). This was to minimise the impact of the rollout of Universal Credit and the introduction of the net earned threshold to determine eligibility for free school meals and to ensure no pupil loses a meal as result of these changes.

Based on the previous rules, the rollout programme for the end of transitional protection was due to start from 1stApril 2025 with most children eligible for free school meals losing their transitional protection at the end of their current phase of education (primary or secondary). In June 2025 the Government published new rules about transitional protection that replaced the end dates that families were previously advised of.

Transitional protection now applies from 1 April 2018, until the end of the 2025/26 school year for all children with an existing ‘entitled’ free school meal claim in our system, including children whose entitlement starts anytime from 1 April 2025 to their last school day in July 2026.

Transitional protection applies regardless of any change in household circumstances, including an increase in earnings above the eligibility threshold.

It is the Department for Education’s intention that all protections will be discontinued from September 2026 - the start of the 2026/27 school year. From this point, families must meet the eligibility criteria to be entitled to free school meals and will cease to be entitled if they no longer meet the published criteria.