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Nutrition and school lunches

Your child could get free lunches or milk at school. Schools must provide free lunches for eligible pupils, paid-for meals where requested and good facilities and supervision so pupils can eat safely.

Free school lunches

Parents do not have to pay for school lunches if they receive any of the following:

  • Income Support
  • income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
  • income-related Employment and Support Allowance
  • support under the Immigration and Asylum Act
  • Child Tax Credit, provided they are not entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual income of less than £16,190
  • Working Tax Credit “run-on” – the payment someone may receive for a further four weeks after they stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
  • Working Tax Credit, provided they have an annual income of less than £16,190 and the pupil attends a nursery or primary school*
  • the Guarantee element of State Pension Credit
  • their child has a statement of special educational needs and is designated to require a special diet, or he, or she, is a boarder at a special school

Children who receive Income Support, income-based Job Seeker's Allowance or income-related Employment and Support Allowance in their own right qualify as well. All pupils who do not qualify for free school lunches must be charged the same amount, for the same quantity, of the same item.

*This criterion was introduced on a phased basis from September 2010. Those eligible from September 2010 were full-time nursery pupils, Foundation Stage pupils and Key Stage 1 pupils in primary schools and those of equivalent age in special schools. Key Stage 2 pupils became eligible from September 2011.

Apply for free school lunches

You can get more details on how to apply for free school lunches from the education and library board for the area in which you live. You can also find out more on the Education Support website.

School lunches and other food

School lunches must meet certain standards of nutrition. The standards also cover tuck shops and vending machines.

Details of these can be found on the Department of Education website.

Packed lunches

To help you pack a healthy balanced lunch for your child, the Public Health Agency (PHA) has produced a booklet with tips and suggestions

The booklet is called "Are you packing a healthy lunch?" and can be downloaded below from the PHA website.

Milk

Free school milk is provided to all pupils at special schools, to those in other schools where it is necessary for their health and where a pupil does not have access to school meals. Pre-school pupils are also eligible for free milk under the Day Care Food Scheme administered by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety.

Subsidised milk is available to nursery, primary and post-primary pupils through the EU School Milk Subsidy Scheme administered by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

More useful links

Do it online

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