Back
GrantWales

Free School Meals (Wales)

Welsh Government / local authorities

Details being confirmed

Some figures on this page (such as the amount, deadline, or rate) are provisional and due a fresh verification pass against the official source. Please confirm the current details using the official link below before relying on this information.

Description

All primary school pupils in Wales (nursery to Year 6, at a maintained school) get a free school lunch every day regardless of household income — the Universal Primary Free School Meals (UPFSM) rollout completed across all 22 local authorities in September 2024. Secondary school pupils are only covered by a separate, means-tested scheme: household must receive Universal Credit with annual net household earnings of £7,400 or less, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, the guarantee element of Pension Credit, or support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.

Amount

A free lunch every school day: universal (no income test) for all primary pupils; means-tested for secondary pupils generally, except Years 7–8 in Universal Credit households (no earnings limit) from September 2026.

Deadline

Rolling / no fixed deadline

Eligibility summary

  • Available in: Wales.
  • Open to individuals — not restricted to businesses.
  • Relevant age groups: under 18.
Notes
From September 2026, Wales began extending free school meals to secondary pupils in Universal Credit households without the £7,400 earnings limit — but initially only for Years 7 and 8, backed by £15m in the 2026/27 supplementary budget (£10m capital for kitchen/dining infrastructure, £5m revenue). Welsh Government has signalled this as a first step toward wider secondary expansion, but no confirmed year-by-year timeline beyond Years 7–8 was found in this pass, so flagged for review. This is separate from the Healthy Eating in Schools (Nutritional Standards and Requirements) (Maintained Primary Schools) (Wales) Regulations 2025, which take effect 31 October 2026 and concern food/nutritional standards, not eligibility — do not conflate the two dates.
Requirement
Automatic for all maintained primary school pupils, regardless of income. Secondary pupils' household must receive Universal Credit (≤£7,400/year net household earnings), Income Support, income-based JSA, income-related ESA, Pension Credit guarantee element, or support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 — except Years 7 and 8 specifically, where the earnings cap is removed from September 2026 (see notes).

Want help with this application?

This one is usually simple enough to do yourself using the free official link below — but if you'd rather have help, we're building relationships with vetted professionals and can let you know if that becomes available.

Some of the organisations we may connect you with pay us a referral fee if you use their service. This never affects which listings you see in the directory. No live partner is confirmed yet for this listing.

You can also do this yourself for free via the official source

How to apply

No application needed for primary pupils — it's automatic. Secondary school parents apply through their local council's free school meals service with details of the qualifying benefit.

View official source

Last verified: 3 October 2026. See the footer disclaimer — this is general information, not financial or tax advice.