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<p>Maintained schools, academies and free schools are required to provide free school
meals to pupils of all ages that meet the eligibility criteria. In addition, since
September 2014 all children in reception, year 1 and year 2 in England's state-funded
schools, including academies and free schools, have been entitled to free school meals.</p><p>
</p><p>In the current school funding system, no school receives specific funding for
benefits-based free school meals. We allocate the dedicated schools grant (DSG) to
local authorities on a per pupil basis, and local authorities then distribute DSG
to schools through a local formula. The number of pupils in a school eligible for
free school meals can be used to allocate additional funding in that local formula.
It is then for schools to decide how to use their budget, including how much to allocate
to pay for benefits-based free school meals. In addition, schools with infant classes
receive separate funding for universal infant free school meals.</p><p> </p><p>No
funding is provided to the child or their family and therefore is not returned to
the school when meals are not taken up.</p>
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