We asked you how the expansion of free school meals is going to affect you and your setting
Thank you to everyone who took the time to answer our survey, it helps us to find out what you think, how issues effect you and best of all, it helps us to tailor our support to give you the highest benefits.
We wrote a piece reporting the expansion of free school meals from the DfE Press release published on 4th June 2025 (amhie.com/more-children-to-get-free-school-meals/). Through research, we were able to ascertain that the funding for the additional school meals may not be coming through the pupil premium. So in order to gain some insight into what that meant we asked you to give us your feedback.
The results
80% of you reported that you had heard of the expansion of free school meals, which is encouraging news as it means then that you have been able to make plans to accommodate the additional costs and admin involved to enable the roll out.
40% of you felt that the current access to funding through the pupil premium was too low/poor, which is worrying in terms of the available funding for settings to support this initiative.
Most troubling was 80% of you reported that you did not know/you were unsure how the expansion of free school meals would affect your pupil premium payments. However, the rest of you knew that the this expansion would not affect your pupil premium payments.
What does this mean?
The Government has explicitly stated that schools will NOT receive additional Pupil Premium funding for children who have now become newly eligible for free school meals as part of the planned expansion. The funding for Pupil Premium will continue to be based on the existing free school meals threshold (i.e., the current income-based criteria for FSM that existed before the expansion).
Education unions and policy experts have expressed concerns that if the government acknowledges these children are “growing up in difficult circumstances” and will benefit from free meals, they are also likely to have lower attainment and need the additional support that Pupil Premium provides. Without this extra funding, schools will be providing more meals but may not have the resources to address the wider educational needs of these newly included pupils.
Since 2018, pupils who became eligible for Free School Meals under certain benefits criteria have continued to receive them, even if their household income subsequently increased above the threshold. These protections are set to end with the new eligibility criteria in September 2026. This means some children who currently receive FSM and therefore attract Pupil Premium might lose both if their family’s circumstances no longer meet the new, more limited, Pupil Premium eligibility criteria (i.e., if their income is above the £7,400 threshold for Universal Credit, or the equivalent for other benefits).
Review on pupil premium
The Department for Education have indicated that they will be reviewing how they allocate Pupil Premium funding to ‘ensure it is targeted to those who need it most” while maintaining the overall amount spent. This review, combined with the FSM expansion, could lead to future changes in Pupil Premium eligibility or allocation methods. In the blog post “Achieving success for all through the Pupil Premium” Elizabeth Bramley discusses how to embed the Pupil Premium offer and how to get the most out of it with the DfE’s 5 step approach strategy.
There is guidance available from the EEF on how to plan, implement, monitor and sustain effective strategies: The EEF Guide to the Pupil Premium
In an article published in Schools Week, the DfE said that over the longer term, “we recognise there are disparities in outcomes for children attracting pupil premium and this government is committed to doing more to improve the life chances of our most disadvantaged children and break the link between background and future success.
“We are therefore reviewing how we allocate pupil premium and related funding to schools and local authorities to address this issue and ensure it is targeted to those who need it most – while maintaining the overall amount we spend on these funding streams.”
The Team at AMHIE
18/6/2025