Free School Meals
Free School Meals Information
Loreto provides a £2.80 daily allowance to students who have applied and qualify for free school meals. The cashless catering system handles the payment for meals without anyone being aware of who is getting a free meal and who is paying so entitlement is completely confidential.
To find out if your child qualifies you need to apply online through this link. Loreto will be automatically notified of any successful applications and will write to you confirming the date that the daily £2.80 allowance will start (please note that any unused amounts do not carry forward to the next day).
If your child is eligible for free school meals and you register them for this through the link above, Loreto will receive extra “Pupil Premium” funding. Please use this link to see the section on Pupil Premium on our website.
Which children qualify for free school meals?
Your child may qualify if you have any of these incomes:
- Income Support
- income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- the guaranteed part of Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit (as long as your annual gross income is £16,190 or less and you don’t get Working Tax Credit)
- Working Tax Credit run-off after you come off Working Tax Credit
- Universal Credit that you applied for on, or after, 1 April 2018. As long as your household income is less than £7,400 a year after tax, not including any benefits
Children who receive these benefits themselves instead of through a parent or guardian can also qualify for free school meals.
Your child may qualify if you are an asylum seeker.
If your child is eligible for free school meals, they will remain eligible until they finish the phase of schooling (primary or secondary) they are in on 31 March 2025 (this has been extended from 31 March 2023).