Here is a full list of the proportion and number of pupils currently eligible for free school meals in every area of England, including Newcastle and Gateshead
Thousands more pupils in the North East will now be entitled to free school meals. And here’s a look at how many children in your area will be eligible.
The Government has announced that all pupils in England whose families claim Universal Credit will be able to get free school meals under an expansion of the scheme. That means hundreds of thousands more youngsters across the country will be able to access means-tested free school meals when the provision is extended from September 2026.
Currently, households in England on Universal Credit must earn below £7,400 a year (after tax and not including benefits) to qualify for free school meals. But the Government has announced that every pupil whose household is on Universal Credit will have a new entitlement to free school lunches from the start of the 2026/27 academic year.
Nearly 2.1 million pupils – almost one in four of all pupils (24.6%) – in England were eligible for free school meals in January 2024. The Department for Education has said more than half-a-million more children are expected to benefit from a free meal every school day as a result of the expansion, and nearly £500 will be put back into parents‘ pockets every year. It suggested that the expansion will lift 100,000 children across England completely out of poverty.
Nick Harrison, chief executive of the Sutton Trust social mobility charity, said: “This is a significant step towards taking hunger out of the classroom. Children can’t learn effectively when hungry, so this announcement not only helps to tackle the effects of child poverty, but will also likely help improve education outcomes for disadvantaged young people. Giving free school meals to all families who are eligible for Universal Credit is also easier for parents to understand, so has the potential to increase take-up rates.”
Kate Anstey, head of education policy at the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) charity, said: “This is fantastic news and a game-changer for children and families. At last, more kids will get the food they need to learn and thrive and millions of parents struggling to make ends meet will get a bit of breathing space. We hope this is a sign of what’s to come in autumn’s child poverty strategy, with government taking more action to meet its manifesto commitment to reduce child poverty in the UK.”
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said: “We join families and schools across England in welcoming this necessary and overdue first step in expanding free school meals eligibility. The existing threshold had been unchanged since 2018, meaning hundreds of thousands of children in poverty were missing out on the nutrition they need to thrive.”
But he added that many children in families who just miss out on being eligible for Universal Credit will also “miss out on a hot, healthy school meal”. Mr Kebede said: “Ensuring that a free school meal is available to all children is the next urgent step that must be taken.”
Number of pupils eligible for free school meals in your area
This data is for January 2025 and has been published by the Department for Education. It is for upper-tier local authorities.
The list is ordered by the proportion of pupils eligible for free meals, starting with the largest, and reads from left to right: name of local authority; proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals in January 2025; headcount (in brackets) of pupils eligible for free school meals in January 2025.
Manchester 47.2% (44,465)Islington 45.8% (10,590)Hackney 45.0% (14,619)Camden 44.8% (9,223)Birmingham 44.7% (92,105)Middlesbrough 43.3% (11,170)Tower Hamlets 43.3% (19,374)Westminster 42.1% (8,776)Blackpool 42.0% (8,326)Wolverhampton 42.0% (21,329)Newcastle upon Tyne 41.9% (17,932)Knowsley 41.9% (9,098)Stoke-on-Trent 39.9% (16,552)Southwark 39.8% (16,538)Halton 39.2% (7,230)Hartlepool 39.0% (5,887)Lambeth 38.6% (13,510)Nottingham 38.0% (18,784)Newham 37.9% (23,905)Southampton 37.9% (12,967)Salford 36.3% (14,096)Walsall 36.0% (19,551)Sandwell 36.0% (22,773)Kensington & Chelsea 35.6% (4,676)Portsmouth 35.5% (9,961)Tameside 35.1% (13,122)Derby 34.8% (16,153)Hull 34.7% (14,928)Oldham 34.3% (15,834)Sheffield 34.1% (29,096)Liverpool 34.0% (26,613)North East Lincolnshire 33.8% (7,923)South Tyneside 33.4% (7,703)Enfield 33.1% (18,131)Redcar & Cleveland 33.0% (6,862)Rochdale 32.9% (12,594)County Durham 32.7% (23,908)Wirral 31.6% (15,866)Sunderland 30.8% (12,899)North Lincolnshire 30.8% (7,402)Peterborough 30.5% (12,670)Wandsworth 30.5% (9,730)Bradford 30.4% (30,213)Greenwich 30.4% (13,468)Hammersmith & Fulham 30.2% (5,985)Bristol 30.2% (19,186)Croydon 29.9% (17,192)Doncaster 29.6% (14,407)Barnsley 29.4% (10,365)Derbyshire 29.1% (31,471)Rotherham 29.1% (13,203)Gateshead 29.0% (8,349)Wigan 28.9% (14,051)Stockton-on-Tees 28.8% (9,148)Lewisham 28.7% (10,819)Darlington 28.6% (4,614)Bolton 28.4% (15,473)St Helens 28.3% (7,634)Leicester 28.1% (17,044)Lincolnshire 28.0% (30,156)Coventry 28.0% (17,221)Telford & Wrekin 27.8% (9,057)Ealing 27.6% (15,092)Kirklees 27.5% (18,261)North Tyneside 27.2% (8,519)Calderdale 27.1% (9,583)Leeds 27.1% (35,841)Luton 27.1% (11,167)Dudley 26.8% (12,933)Barking & Dagenham 26.7% (12,329)Sefton 26.7% (10,766)Plymouth 26.5% (10,278)Merton 26.4% (7,287)Wakefield 26.3% (14,522)Brighton & Hove 26.3% (8,042)Haringey 26.3% (9,821)Torbay 26.3% (5,195)Blackburn with Darwen 25.6% (7,240)Waltham Forest 25.6% (10,687)Medway 25.5% (13,048)Isle of Wight 25.2% (4,049)Solihull 25.0% (9,915)Kent 24.9% (62,607)Lancashire 24.8% (44,194)Bury 24.8% (7,219)East Sussex 24.4% (16,460)Brent 24.3% (11,850)Milton Keynes 24.2% (12,695)Northumberland 23.8% (10,674)Hounslow 23.8% (10,851)Norfolk 23.4% (27,712)City of London 23.3% (58)Cornwall 23.1% (16,823)Warrington 23.1% (7,657)Thurrock 23.1% (7,322)Nottinghamshire 23.0% (29,221)Southend-on-Sea 22.9% (7,200)Hillingdon 22.8% (12,041)Suffolk 22.6% (23,349)Cambridgeshire 22.0% (20,298)Barnet 22.0% (13,625)Reading 21.9% (5,417)Bedford 21.9% (6,980)Warwickshire 21.8% (19,842)Cumberland 21.7% (8,574)Stockport 21.6% (9,436)Somerset 21.2% (15,285)North Northamptonshire 20.9% (11,805)Slough 20.9% (7,095)Staffordshire 20.8% (26,049)East Riding of Yorkshire 20.7% (9,257)Hampshire 20.7% (37,847)Devon 20.6% (20,508)Worcestershire 20.5% (16,892)Swindon 20.5% (7,676)Dorset 20.3% (9,597)Cheshire West & Chester% (20.2 10,322)Redbridge 20.1% (11,583)Essex 20.1% (44,874)Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole 20.0% (10,557)Havering 19.9% (8,629)Herefordshire 19.7% (4,651)Bexley 19.4% (8,324)Shropshire 19.1% (7,551)Harrow 18.8% (7,307)Gloucestershire 18.6% (17,358)North Yorkshire 18.6% (15,127)York 17.6% (4,441)Bath & North East Somerset 17.5% (4,761)West Northamptonshire 17.3% (11,824)Trafford 17.3% (7,574)Leicestershire 17.2% (17,351)Wiltshire 17.1% (11,944)North Somerset 16.6% (5,242)Sutton 16.4% (6,740)Cheshire East 16.3% (9,348)Bromley 16.2% (8,606)Oxfordshire 16.1% (16,406)West Sussex 16.0% (18,983)South Gloucestershire 15.9% (6,623)West Berkshire 15.6% (4,140)Hertfordshire 15.5% (31,461)Buckinghamshire 15.4% (13,898)Westmorland & Furness 15.3% (4,684)Kingston upon Thames 15.2% (4,096)Windsor & Maidenhead 14.9% (3,420)Surrey 14.8% (24,215)Richmond upon Thames 14.1% (4,078)Central Bedfordshire 14.0% (6,914)Rutland 12.9% (760)Bracknell Forest 12.9% (2,441)Wokingham 10.2% (3,057)Isles of Scilly 3.2% (8)
