Depending on where you live in the country has an impact on whether you receive free school meals:
- Wales & Scotland: Rolling universal free school meals in primary schools
- London: Universal free school meals for all primary school children for the 2023/24 academic year
- Northern Ireland: Has an income threshold of £14,000 for free school meals- double the level in England
- York: Piloting Expanding free school meals in schools in deprived areas
- Tower Hamlets: Expanded free school meals to secondary pupils too
A spokesperson said: “It's exciting to see the start of the roll out of free school meals to all primary schoolchildren in London, thanks to additional funding of £135 million from the Mayor of London. Scotland and Wales are also actively working towards primary school meals for all children.
“Some London boroughs including Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Westminster are also now expanding provision of school lunches to more secondary schoolchildren. Other areas are also extending access, with pilots from York to Stockport.
“Sadly this is not the case everywhere. Equal access to school meals for children has become a postcode lottery. Depending on age and location, not all children have the same chance of winning. This is not fair but you can help change this.”
If you are interested in supporting the "Say Yes to School Food For All" campaign, visit here.