Since September 2025, children at our school who qualify for free school meals are automatically enrolled by Central Bedfordshire Council.

This means that parents don’t need to apply – the Council use information it already has, such as  Council Tax Support and Housing Benefit details, to automatically process an application on parents' behalf.

The Council will write to you if it thinks your child is likely to be eligible. In the letter the Council will:

1. explain that it thinks your child may qualify
2. tell you that it will assess your application automatically unless you tell it not to
3. advise you that the Council will let you and the school know the outcome

As long as you are happy for the Council to assess your application automatically, you don’t need to do anything.

Holiday Activity and Food Programme
If your child is eligible for free school meals, they’ll also qualify for the Holiday Activity and Food Programme (HAF). You will be emailed a code before the summer, Christmas and Easter holidays.