Your child can get free school meals if they go to a school in Harrow and are aged 5 to 18. From September 2026, children in families on Universal Credit can get free meals at school. It does not matter how much money you earn. This is a big change, and over half a million more children will be able to get free school meals.
Your child can get free school meals if you receive any of the following benefits:
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA)
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Support under Part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- The guaranteed element of Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit, if you do not receive Working Tax Credit and your annual income is less than £16,190
- Working Tax Credit run-on, which is paid for four weeks after you stop getting Working Tax Credit
- Universal Credit, regardless of household income.
Applying for free school meals
You can apply for free school meals online. You will need to provide:
- Parent's details
- Child's details
- School's details.
If your child starts at a new school, you'll need to tell them about your child's free school meals. The new school will update its records, so your child will keep getting free school meals.