Oxford News
All parents on Universal Credit to get free school meals
The Department for Education has confirmed that from the start of the 2026/27 school year, every child whose household receives Universal Credit will be entitled to a free school meal, regardless of how much their parents earn.
The expansion, introduced through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, removes the long-standing £7,400 earnings threshold for many families and is expected to significantly increase the number of children receiving free lunches at school.
However, while more children will qualify for free meals, some other forms of support will remain available only to lower-income families.
Who will qualify for expanded free school meals?
From September, children attending maintained schools, academies, free schools and eligible nursery settings will qualify for free school meals if their household receives:
- Universal Credit
- Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- The guarantee element of Pension Credit
- Eligible support for some families with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF)
The biggest change is that all Universal Credit households will now qualify, even if earnings exceed the current £7,400 annual threshold.
Two different types of free school meals
The government is introducing two separate categories.
Targeted free school meals will continue for children in Universal Credit households earning £7,400 a year or less, as well as certain other qualifying benefit recipients.
These children will still attract additional funding for their school through the Pupil Premium, remain part of the Ever 6 cohort and continue to qualify for schemes such as the Holiday Activities and Food programme and some school transport support.
Meanwhile, a new category called Expanded Free School Meals will cover children in Universal Credit households earning above £7,400.
These pupils will receive free lunches but will not qualify for the additional funding linked to targeted free school meals.
The Department for Education has also confirmed that transitional protections introduced in 2018 will end before the new school year.
Those protections allowed children to keep receiving free school meals even if their family’s circumstances changed.
From September, schools will carry out annual eligibility checks to confirm families still meet the qualifying criteria.
The guidance says: “From the start of the 2026 to 2027 academic year, transitional protections for free school meals will end. Households must meet the FSM eligibility criteria from the start of the 2026 to 2027 academic year to continue receiving provision.”
Schools preparing for surge in demand
Schools are now being told to prepare for a sharp rise in the number of pupils taking school meals.
The Department for Education is encouraging schools to estimate:
- How many extra children will become eligible
- How many additional meals will need to be served
- Whether families currently using nursery provision intend to take up the offer
Schools are also being encouraged to start promoting the new entitlement and accept applications as early as possible.
Parents will still need to apply
Despite the wider eligibility rules, families will not receive free school meals automatically.
Parents, carers or another responsible adult must still submit an application so schools can verify eligibility using the Department for Education’s digital checking system.
The guidance states: “To receive FSM, a claim must be made for this support by a pupil, their parent, or another responsible adult, as a condition of eligibility.”
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Even if children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 already receive Universal Infant Free School Meals, parents are still being urged to apply if they qualify under the benefits-based system.
That’s because schools receive additional funding for eligible pupils through the Pupil Premium where children qualify for targeted free school meals.
The Department for Education is also introducing a new Free School Meals Expansion Grant to help schools meet the extra costs created by the larger number of eligible pupils.
On Wednesday, September 2, it was the Concours judging and private viewings to dominate the agenda for the day.
Twelve Concours classes were held across almost a century of motoring, including The Golden Age of Motoring, 100 Years of Carrrozzeria Touring, La Dolce Vita, 60 Years of the Lamborghini Miura and Passione Ferrari.
Two new classes also made their debut for 2026, Rare Breeds of the Digital Age and Hypercar Heaven, which recognise the growing importance of contemporary performance cars within the international collector market.
Judging will take place across Wednesday and Thursday, with the show field bringing together a 70-strong collection of classics, supercars and hypercars from around the world.
Some of the cars include Aa Maserati 8C 3000, Alfa Romeo Sprint Berlinetta, a one-off Maserati 3500GT Spyder Prototipo by Vignale, a very early Porsche 356 Split Window Coupé, Aston Martin DB3S, Lamborghini Miura P400S, Bizzarrini 5300GT, Ferrari 250 GT Series 1 Cabriolet, Bugatti EB110 Prototype, Aston Martin Valiant Prototype and the extraordinary Bugatti Bolide, one of just 40 produced worldwide.
Helen Pike has decided to step down as Master of Magdalen College School at the end of the 2026/27 academic year, the school in east Oxford announced in March.
MCS is one of the top performing schools in the country, ranking in the top 20 independent secondary schools in The Sunday Times Parent Power Schools Guide 2026.
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The new academic year will start next week, with Ms Pike preparing for one more year in charge before she hands over to her successor, who will take over in September 2027.
The first female Master at MCS, Ms Pike guided the board of governors to one of the most significant decisions in the school’s history, to become fully co-educational from 2027.
While there has been a co-educational sixth form at the school for 15 years, the school last month announced it will become fully co-educational over the coming decade.
Ms Pike said earlier: “I love MCS, and it is a perennial privilege to lead this remarkable school.
“Being Master of MCS is a brilliant job, and I am declaring my intention early in order to give MCS the very best opportunity to find the right Master for September 2027. I shall continue to do all in my power to further the fortunes of this wonderful school until then.
“I look forward to a new phase in my own professional life, one that builds on all that I have enjoyed and achieved in my career during the past 30 years.
“Having encouraged many cohorts of pupils to take sensible risks and to do something creative and different when the time feels right, I am doing just that.”
During Ms Pike’s tenure, MCS has been recognised as a Top 20 Independent School and South East School of the Year by the Sunday Times and won Independent School of the Year for Social Mobility.
Thanking her in his letter to the school community, chair of governors, Bob Price, said earlier this year: “Helen is an outstanding leader and will go with our sincere gratitude and warm thanks for her exceptional headship.
“She will leave the school in excellent shape for her successor.”
Recruitment for a replacement for Ms Pike is now under way.
Last month, Ms Pike congratulated pupils on their “outstanding success” in this year’s A-Level exams, after more than a quarter of pupils (43) achieved three A*s or more and 25 secured all A*s.
In total, 39 pupils from the 2026 cohort are heading to Oxbridge, while 22 have secured places to study medicine.
As part of the school’s expansion plans, MCS is preparing to build a new Science, Library and Partnerships building.
A spokeswoman said the new building will offer an exciting opportunity to reimagine the senior school site as staff look ahead to full co-education.
She added earlier: “With a vision to create a sector-leading science building in the centre of Oxford, the development will enable us to support an ambitious and forward-looking science curriculum, expanding to the emerging and rapidly advancing areas of robotics, AI and Big Data.”
Holding banners which read ‘For f**k’s sake, just stop oil’, the demonstrators took to the road in Parliament Square at noon today (Wednesday, September 2).
This was as Andy Burnham faced his first Prime Minister’s Questions, and many of the protestors glued themselves to the road.
The group demanded that the UK government stop approving all further oil and gas developments, and sign a Fossil Fuel Treaty to stop oil and gas extraction.
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Just Stop Oil say that the police are expected to arrest all those blocking the road, and that one lane has been left free of glued-on action takers to permit access for emergency vehicles.
Andy Burnham is due to make a decision on whether to allow more drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea.
Reverend James Crote, a Baptist Minister and grandfather from Chesterton near Bicester, said: “Today is my grandson’s first birthday. I have to take action for the sake of his future.
The 69-year-old added: “The government has been dilly-dallying about whether to say yes or no to the Rosebank oil field but, if we want a future for our children, there is no choice – it has to say ‘no’.
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“I am here as a Christian Minister because the Church has to speak out and demand that the government stops approving further oil and gas developments now. It’s time for us all to say ‘For God’s sake, Just Stop Oil’.”
Data from the Met Office indicates that 2026 was the hottest summer in UK recorded history, beating 2025, which was the previous hottest summer on record.
2026 was also one of the driest summers on record, delivering record-low food harvests.
Climbing temperatures have triggered wildfires across the country, and national fire chiefs said the wildfire risk facing the UK is “like nothing we have seen before”.
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Taking action, grandmother Victoria Ann Lynch-Staunton from Leamington Spa, said: “What is happening is beyond a tragedy.”
The 71-year-old added: “I beg everyone to join Just Stop Oil or governments will continue to prioritise endless growth and corporate profit over billions of lives – yours and your children.
“Wake up and smell the coffin. It is the responsibility of all of us to act now!”
A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said today: “We are all Just Stop Oil.
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“Every single person who fears deadly wildfires, devastating droughts, and spiralling food shortages is Just Stop Oil.
“The first duty of government is to keep the public safe – but by greenlighting oil and gas drilling, they endanger our survival while corporates and billionaires laugh their way to the bank.
“Every one of us feels alone and powerless in the face of this insanity, but we know there is massive political and public support for our demand.
“So we’re inviting everyone to join us at an online call on 3rd October 2026 – because it’s when we work together that we are powerful and win.”
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