Who can get free school meals and secondary-school clothing grants?
You can claim free school meals and a secondary school clothing grant for a child who lives with you and who you are responsible for (for example, you receive Child Benefit for them) as long as you get one of these qualifying incomes: • Income Support; or • income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance; or • Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit); or • income-related Employment and Support Allowance; or • Child Tax Credit (CTC). However, you must not be getting Working Tax Credit or an amount for childcare paid with your CTC. HM Revenue & Customs must also have worked out your income as £16,190 or less a year. This income limit is for April 2010 to March 2011 and is likely to go up from April 2011; You can also get free school meals, but not a secondary school clothing grant, if you are entitled to a Working Tax Credit ‘run-on’ payment for four weeks after stopping work or reducing working hours to under 16 hours a week. You can also claim if you are an asylum seeker.
