Free school meals

The eligibility criteria for free school meals depends on which year group your child is in.

Nursery students

To be eligible for free school meals:

• Your child must attend a Rochdale Borough Council maintained nursery.
• Your child must receive education before and after lunch.
• You must also receive one of the qualifying benefits listed below.

All children over the age of 3 receive 15 hours of nursery a week for free, starting from the term following their third birthday.

Reception, year 1 and year 2 students

You don't have to apply for free school meals for children in reception, year 1 and year 2.

All children in these year groups get a free meal at lunchtime, under the government's Universal Infant Free School Meals scheme. These are provided at all schools, academies, free schools and pupil referral units maintained by Rochdale Borough Council.

However, if your child is in a key stage 1 group and you get one of the qualifying benefits listed below, you can help your school get extra funding if you make a claim for free school meals.

Year 3-year 11 students

To be eligible for free school meals:

• You, as the parent or guardian, must receive Child Benefit for the child you are responsible for.
• You must also receive one of the qualifying benefits listed below.

16-19 year-old students

To be eligible for free school meals:

• You must go to secondary school or a sixth form attached to a secondary school.
• You or your parent or guardian must also receive one of the qualifying benefits listed below.

Qualifying benefits for free school meals

These are the qualifying benefits for free school meals:

• Income Support (IS).
• Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (IBJSA).
• An income-related employment and support allowance.
• Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
• Child Tax Credit - provided you aren't entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an income that doesn't exceed the current year's level.
• The guaranteed element of State Pension Credit.
• Working Tax Credit during the 4 weeks immediately after your employment finished.
• ​​Universal Credit: your child is only eligible for free school meals under Universal Credit if you and your partner have net earnings of less than £7,400 per year.

What will happen if your income changes

• If you applied before 1 April 2025: your claim is protected. Your child will be entitled to free school meals until they finish primary school (Reception-Year 6) or secondary school (Year 7- Year 13), even if your circumstances change.
• If your child is currently in Year 6: we'll check if your child is still eligible for free school meals when they move to secondary school.
• If you applied on or after 1 April 2025: your claim won’t be protected. We'll check your child is eligible for free school meals regularly and your entitlement will stop if you no longer qualify. This might mean that some children in the same family could get free school meals and related benefits, like the Holiday Activities and Food Programme, while others might not.

Free school meals for families with no recourse to public funds (NRPF)

The Department for Education has permanently extended free school meal eligibility to children in all households with no recourse to public funds (NRPF). 

The eligible groups include, but may not be limited to children of:

• Zambrano carers
• Families who have no recourse to public funds with a right to remain in the UK on grounds of private and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights
• Families receiving support under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 who are also subject to a no recourse to public funds restriction
• A subset of failed asylum seekers supported under Section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• Chen carers
• Families holding a British National (Overseas) passport
• Spousal visa holders
• Work visa holders
• Student visa holders
• Those with no immigration status

Income thresholds for families with no recourse to public funds (NRPF)

To be eligible for free school meals for families with no recourse to public funds, your annual household income must be under:

• £22,700 for families with 1 child
• £26,300 for families with 2 or more children

You must also not have more than £16,000 in capital and savings.

You may need to provide full bank and building society statements, showing all transactions for the last 2 months for all accounts held, whether in the UK or your home country.