Free school meals transitional protection ending

In response to the recent DfE announcement that Free School Meals Transitional Protection ended at the end of March, you may wish to use the wording provided to explain to parents what this means.

The main point is that entitlement remains protected for all year groups except for:

• those ending their phase of education in Sept (Year 6 moving to Year 7, and Year 11moving to Year 12)
• any new applications made from 1 April 2025.

Proposed message for parents: The Department for Education recently announced that, from 1 April 2025, the rule protecting pupils’ free school meal entitlement will end for some. That means Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) will regularly check pupils’ eligibility to ensure they can still get free school meals.

If a pupil is no longer eligible, their free school meals will end from this point.

Applications approved before 1 April 2025 will remain eligible until the pupil finishes their current phase of schooling – that is:

• end of Year 6 (when primary ends)
• end of Year 11 (when secondary ends).

Once a pupil moves to their new school phase, HCC will regularly check that the pupil is still eligible for free school meals. The checks will start this summer for all children moving from years 6 and 11, plus all applications made after 1 April 2025. HCC will write to you if your child is no longer eligible.

If you’re experiencing financial difficulty and are seeking support, visit www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/householdsupportfund or contact www.citizensadvice.org.uk.

As always, HCC will run a renewals process during the summer and update schools of continued entitlement.

Note - Parents with pupils currently in year 2 moving to year 3 will need to reapply for the new academic year. To make an application visit www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/freeschoolmeals