Deadline extended for free school meals eligibility checks

Ministers have urged schools to continue to check eligibility for free school meals under a planned expansion of the scheme after the planned September deadline.

From the new term, all pupils who have at least one parent or carer receiving universal credit will be eligible for the meals, regardless of their total household income.

At present, only households with a pre-benefits household income of less than £7,400 are eligible.

The government estimates that more than 500,000 extra pupils will become eligible after the change.

The Department for Education said in May that the new entitlement would “result in most schools experiencing an increase in pupils qualifying for free school meals”.

It encouraged heads to estimate how many additional pupils would become eligible, and how many extra meals would be needed.

This was due by September, the DfE said, “to allow all pupils to be ready to receive FSM from the start of the autumn term”.

It added that “pupils will not attract FSM funding if they do not have a valid recheck or eligibility ahead of the October census each year.”

But in an update published to councils last week – the last of the summer term – the DfE said if checks were not completed by September, it “strongly encourages settings to continue providing free meals to those currently receiving FSM until the checks are complete”.

‘A significant undertaking’

In an update to academies, the DfE said it “recognises this is a significant undertaking and appreciates the work already underway”.

“Please continue to make as much progress as possible before the start of the new academic year.”

Stephen Morales, the chief executive of the Centre for Educational Operational Excellence, said this was “just another one in a chain of examples of requirements being made of schools” before the end of the academic year.

“The noise from the sector is once again, you’re not giving us the time that we need, and therefore don’t be surprised if you don’t get the chain of information that you need in the time that you wanted.

“Schools more than anybody want this right. At the same time, they need to be given a fair opportunity to do that. But things are being asked of them at the last hour in an unreasonable way, where it makes it impossible.”

Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the school leaders’ union NAHT, agreed that checking eligibility “created additional workload for schools”, but that it was “positive that the government is accepting that schools may ned to complete this task at the start of the autumn term”.

Pepe Di’lasio, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, also welcomed the DfE’s recognition that this was “a significant undertaking”, and said the advice was “sensible and pragmatic under these circumstances”.

Both NAHT and ASCL said the government should introduce auto-enrolment systems, introduced by more than 30 councils across England, to simplify the process.

When asked about this during an education and work and pensions committee session, Olivia Bailey, the former early education minister, said the government had “made improvements” to eligibility checking.