Some Cornwall families won’t need to apply for free school meals

If your child could qualify for free school meals in Cornwall, you may not have to fill in a single form to get them. Cornwall Council is bringing in an automatic check that quietly does the work in the background, using records it already holds.

What is changing

The new process is called the Free School Meals (FSM) Auto Award. It checks whether some children are eligible for free school meals and enrols them if they qualify, without families needing to apply.

To find children who may be entitled, the Council will look at information it already holds. That includes children who currently receive free meals, and households that receive Housing Benefit or Council Tax Support from Cornwall Council.

At this stage, families do not need to do anything. The Council will get in touch with anyone identified through the automatic check and explain what happens next.

Why now

The change lands ahead of new national eligibility rules coming in from the Department for Education in September this year.

Under those rules, every household on Universal Credit will be eligible for free school meals, and the current household income threshold is being removed. Eligibility will also be looked at again at the start of each academic year.

What families need to do

Families picked up through the process, along with children who already get free school meals, will be contacted this month (July 2026).

At that point, families can opt out if they do not want the Council to run an eligibility check. Where eligibility is confirmed, children are enrolled automatically.

Anyone not identified through the Auto Award, or whose circumstances change during the year, can still apply through the online Parent Portal.

What the Council says

Cllr Hilary Frank, Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Families, said a good meal during the school day helps children concentrate, feel well and get more from their education, and that the aim is for every eligible child in Cornwall to receive one.

“Families already have enough to think about without having to navigate unnecessary paperwork,” she said. “By using information we already hold, we’re making the process as simple as possible and helping to make sure more children receive the support they are entitled to.”

More detail on free school meals and the Auto Award process is on the Cornwall Council school meals page.