Meals are provided by Kingswood Catering and are free for children in EYFS and KS1. For children in KS2 the cost is £2.99 per day. If your child is entitled to free school meals please notify the school office even if they are in EYFS or KS1. A nourishing, well balanced two course meal is served which is cooked on our school site daily. Children have a choice of main courses and dessert. Hot lunches can be ordered in advance for the days they are required. It is not an either or option, families can choose to have only hot meals or mix and match with school packed lunches or those bought from home. There is always a choice between freshly prepared hot meals, jacket potatoes and packed lunches or they are welcome to bring a packed lunch from home. Please click on the link to find out more about Kingswood school lunches.

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Eligibility for Free School Meals

From the start of the 2026/27 academic year, the Government has expanded eligibility for benefits-based Free School Meals (FSM). All children from households receiving Universal Credit are now entitled to a free school meal, regardless of household earnings.

There are now two categories of benefits-based Free School Meals: Targeted Free School Meals and Expanded Free School Meals.

Targeted Free School Meals

A child may be eligible for Targeted FSM if they, or their parent/carer, receive Universal Credit and have annual household earnings of £7,400 or less.

Children may also qualify for Targeted FSM where the household receives certain other qualifying support, including:

• support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999;
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance;
• the guarantee element of Pension Credit; or
• support under the separate eligibility arrangements for some families with no recourse to public funds (NRPF).

Children eligible for Targeted FSM receive a free school meal and may also attract Pupil Premium and other disadvantage funding for the school. Other entitlements linked to disadvantage, including eligibility for the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, continue to be based on the Targeted FSM criteria.

Expanded Free School Meals

From the start of the 2026/27 academic year, children from all households receiving Universal Credit are entitled to a free school meal.

Where a household receives Universal Credit but its annual earnings are above £7,400, the child will normally fall within the new Expanded FSM category.

Expanded FSM provides entitlement to a free school meal, but it does not in itself attract Pupil Premium or other disadvantage funding. These additional funding and related entitlements remain linked to the Targeted FSM criteria.

Universal Infant Free School Meals

All pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 in state-funded schools continue to be entitled to a free school meal through Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM).

However, it is still important that families who may meet the benefits-based FSM criteria have their eligibility checked. This enables the school to identify whether a child qualifies for Targeted FSM and the associated Pupil Premium and other support.
 

To see if your children can claim free school meals (FSM) from September 2026, please fill in all sections of this form and submit to Rutland County Council. If there is any information you cannot find, or you are having problems understanding, contact the school office for help.  

If you receive Universal Credit, or think your child may be eligible for Free School Meals under any of the criteria above, please complete the form by clicking on the link below so that Rutland County Council can check your eligibility. This is important even if your child is already receiving a free meal because they are in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2

Free School Meals Eligibility Check