Free School Meals Entitlement Increased

What Does This Mean for Children at School?

Today, 5th June 2025, the government have announced they will expand Free School Meal entitlement to all children whose families receive Universal Credit. This is welcome news, and a first step towards much needed investment to lift children out of poverty.

But what does this mean for children at school today? Liv, an End Child Poverty Coalition Youth Ambassador explains what Free School Meals meant to her;

We know that hunger in the classroom doesn’t just affect learning – it chips away at confidence and crushes ambition. This recent expansion is a crucial first step in addressing the deeply unjust poverty divide that continues to shape children’s experiences in education.

For working, single-parent families like mine, this change offers a much-needed moment to breathe. My mum was under unimaginable pressure just to keep the lights on at home – and on top of that, she was stretched even further trying to keep us fed at school, a place that we were required to be. This step forward finally feels like a hand reaching out to families like mine. For once, we are being seen. We are being heard.

I still remember how liberating it felt at primary school, where every child received a free school meal. It brought a sense of community and equity. But everything changed when I moved to secondary school and no longer qualified. That shared community vanished. I went from a hot meal to whatever small lunch my mum could put together that week. I watched as friends were denied food for being just a penny short on their account. My ability to concentrate slipped away, my confidence crumbled, and I had to work twice as hard just to keep up.

We now look to the government’s upcoming child poverty strategy- which must include urgent action on the benefit cap and the two-child limit – to start meaningfully addressing the scale of hardship faced by families across the UK.

With the release of our harrowing local child poverty data this week, one thing is clear: the normalisation of child poverty is no longer acceptable.

What we need now is a serious, long-term strategy – one that refuses to look away, and instead makes bold political choices that put children first.