Pupil Premium and Free School Meals

Pupil Premium and Free School Meals

FREE SCHOOL MEALS

Free school meals are available to students in Years 7 to 13 who meet the eligibility criteria.

The UK Government have announced that free school meal eligibility is expanding from 1st September 2026. In addition to the current criteria, all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit will be entitled to free school meals from 1st September 2026.

Temporary protections which allowed children to continue receiving free school meals without rechecking eligibility, will end at the end of the 2025-2026 academic year.

We are encouraging all parents/carers who believe their child may be eligible for free school meals to submit an application via the Online Free School Meals (OFSM).

From September there are two categories of benefits-based free school meal, Targeted FSM and Expanded FSM.

Targeted FSM

· Universal Credit (provided you have an annual net earned income of no more than £7,400, as assessed by earnings from up to three of your most recent assessment periods)

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• The guarantee element of Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
• Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for four weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

Students eligible in this category will be eligible for any free school meal holiday support schemes in place and are also eligible for Pupil Premium.

Expanded FSM

• This is a new category covering students who do not qualify for targeted FSM, but who are in households receiving Universal Credit.

Students eligible in this category, as per the Government Guidance are not eligible for free school meal holiday support, or Pupil Premium.

How do I apply for Free School Meals?

In order to apply for free school meals, you will need to complete an online form via this link https://apply.cloudforedu.org.uk/ofsm/sims-trafford. You need to complete a separate application for each child.

Please note that the decision is not made by the school as to whether you qualify, and therefore any questions related to the application cannot be answered by the school.

What happens once it is confirmed that my child is eligible for free school meals?

• The OFSM system will alert us that your child is eligible for free school meals
• The current free school meals allowance is £3.50.
• Your child will present themselves at the till in the school refectory or sixth form café to pay for their food in the same way as any other student would. It is not possible for students to identify which other students are eligible for free school meals.
• Up to £3.50 will be credited to your child’s dinner money account at the end of each day.
• Your child can choose to spend more than their £3.50 free school meal allowance but you will need to ensure that funds are available in your child’s dinner money account to account for any surplus expenditure.
• Any of the £3.50 free school meal allowance that has not been spent by the end of the day will not be carried over to the following day.
• We are required to check eligibility annually and will undertake these checks in the summer term of each academic year so that you are aware of the results for the start of the following academic year.

PUPIL PREMIUM

Pupil Premium funding

Pupil Premium funding is provided to schools to help all pupils reach their full potential regardless of their background or financial situation.

The eligibility criteria for Pupil Premium funding is:

• students currently eligible for Targeted Free School Meals
• students who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last 6 years.* Please note from September 2026 this will only apply to new applications where the award status is Targeted Free School Meals
• children previously looked after by a local authority or other state care, including children adopted from state care or equivalent from outside England and Wales

Services Premium is separate and exists for students who:

• have a parent serving in the regular UK armed forces
• have a parent serving in the armed forces of another nation and is stationed in England
• have a parent who has died whilst serving in the armed forces

How is the Pupil Premium funding used?

Pupil Premium funding is paid directly to the school, who decide how the funding should be used. The school has a three-year Pupil Premium strategy, which is outlined in the documentation below.

Specific support is provided to students who meet the pupil premium eligibility criteria. This typically includes support towards: uniform costs, study guides, educational visits, after-school sports clubs; and music tuition.