Apply for Free School Meals
If you live in Merthyr Tydfil and receive any of the following, you can claim free school meals for your school-aged child:
- Income Support
- Income Based Jobseeker's Allowance
- Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Child Tax Credit (but not Working Tax Credit) and your annual income does not exceed £16,190 (as assessed by Tax Credits)
- Guarantee element of Pension Credit
- Working Tax Credit 'run-on' - the payment someone may receive for a further four weeks after they stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
- Universal Credit (not in work)
- Universal Credit (in work) where your award is based on annual earnings from your employment or self-employment and have been determined as less than £7,400.
Young people who receive Income Support or Income Based Job Seekers Allowance in their own right are also entitled to receive free school meals.
You can learn more about free school meals on the Welsh Assembly website.
You will be notified in writing or by email of the outcome of your application.
If you are eligible for free school meals, your child’s school will be notified so that they can update their records.
Free school meals are awarded for each child separately and not for the household. You will therefore need to complete a new application form if you have another child starting school for the first time.
You do not need to re-apply if your child moves to another school in the borough. When we are advised by your child’s new school that they are a pupil there then we will amend our records and inform them of your eligibility.
Transitional Protection
Any pupil eligible for free school meals at the point an earned income threshold is introduced (1st April 2019) will have their eligibility protected. This will apply to all applicants until the end of December 2023, regardless of whether their circumstances change.
Any pupil who becomes eligible under the amended criteria during the Transition Protection period (from 1st April 2019 to 31 December 2023) will also retain their eligibility until the end of their current phase of education, e.g. primary / secondary.