Dear Parent/Carer,

Please see more information about Free School Meals and how these are working from September 2026 due to the Government expanding the scheme - please read through the information below and apply with the Local Authority if you are eligible.

From September 2026 all households receiving Universal Credit, regardless of household income, will qualify for free school meals.

Who should apply

  • If you receive Universal Credit and your child is not getting free school meals, apply by filling in our online form.
  • If you have already applied for free school meals and your child has been confirmed as eligible, you do not need to apply again.

The information about how the changes work is below:

Expanded free school meals

Families receiving Universal Credit with earnings above £7,400 – child will receive an allowance for a school meal at lunchtime each day.


Targeted free school meals

Your child may be able to get free school meals if you get any of the following:

  • Universal Credit with yearly household earnings of £7,400 or less.
  • Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
  • Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
  • the guarantee element of Pension Credit

Children in this group may also be eligible for other programmes of support.

If your child is eligible for targeted free school meals, they may also be entitled to:

  • free transport to school (if they also meet the age and distance criteria)
  • Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) - fun activities during the school holidays
  • Pupil Premium funding for the school - extra funding to raise the achievement of some pupils

If you meet any of the above criteria you need to apply to online through Lancashire County Council website.

Please see the links below for further information – you need to apply to the council you currently live in.

Lancashire County Council

https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/schools-and-education/free-school-meals/

 

LCC will confirm directly to let you know whether you are eligible once you have applied. If you are eligible they will let the school know that your child can have free school meals.

As they are working through all these changes at the minute and there are delays sharing the information with school if you do receive a letter from the Local Authority confirming this, you can send a copy of this letter through to school at office@mountcarmelhigh.lancs.sch.uk so that we can update our systems.

LCC New applications Information
If you have applied and not received a confirmation email, please allow 5 working days before contacting them. Remember to also check your spam or junk email folder.

LCC are currently managing an increase in applications since the government extended the eligibility criteria. We will try to respond to all applications as soon as possible.

If you need to contact LCC please use the following email:
Hyndburn, Ribble Valley, Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale (East) fsm.east@lancashire.gov.uk