Why are Free School Meals important?

The provision of free school meals has multiple benefits:

• Your child could be entitled to a free hot meal every day.
• Children who are registered to receive free school meals are sometimes prioritised to access provision through school and are able to access external services unavailable to most families (such as subsidised childcare during the holidays and vouchers for meals).
• School receives additional funding of over £1000 for every child registered to receive free school meals, even if they don't eat school dinners.

Could your child be entitled to Free School Meals?

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

• 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 guaranteed 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 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
• Universal Credit: if you apply on or after 1 April 2018, your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)

How can I apply?

We use the Department for Education's free school meals eligibility checking system, meaning you will receive an instant result notification and the school will be informed.

To apply, you will be required to register and provide:

• your National Insurance Number or National Asylum Support Service Reference Number
• your family name
• your date of birth
• you may also be required to upload a copy of your benefit document

Please use the following link to apply:

caya-apps.derbyshire.gov.uk/Synergy/SynergyWeb/Enquiries/Citizen/FreeSchoolMeals.aspx

If you need any further advice or support, please contact the free school meals team at Derbyshire via the following means:

Email: checking@derbyshire.gov.uk

Telephone: 01629 536481