Children will be eligible if their parents are in receipt of one or more of the following benefits, which are the benefits used to access eligibility for free school meals:
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Support under part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- The guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit (provided they’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 they stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
Universal Credit
Or if they have been:
- Looked after by the local authority for at least 1 day
- Have been adopted from care
- Have left care through special guardianship
- Subject to a child arrangement order setting out with whom the child is to live (formerly known as residence orders)
