Free school meals transition from primary school to secondary

[Mitsy1589]

Hi, my son is on free school meals and is due to move up to secondary school in September, will the free school meals follow on with him or would I need to apply again....I have read on the gov.uk website that FSM are protected until March 2025 because of the U.C rollout, can anyone clarify if this is true? But I have also read that FSM finishes at the stage of schooling he is in which would be primary school. Bit confused.

Yes it will follow but I would speak to secondary school to ask if they need any further paperwork from you.

I have been told we would need to apply again. We aren't actually in receipt of tax credits any more and yet DS continues to get FSM. I contacted the school and they said it continues for all his time at Primary and if we don't need the vouchers any more, just put the equivalent in food into a food bank! 🤔
I'm now worried they'll want it all back. They want £2.5k in tax credits overpayment so surely they'll come after us for the FSM next?!

I work in a school and deal with this. It should carry over, however the secondary knowing this relies on the primary sending over the electronic file unless they do their own checks as standard (some will). There’s sometimes a delay with this, so I would definitely let the secondary know to check.