Free meals in further education funded institutions guide: 2024 to 2025
Guidance to help provide free meals to disadvantaged 16 to 18 year old students in further education funded institutions.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) closed on 31 March 2025. All activity has moved to the Department for Education (DfE). You should continue to follow this guidance.
Who this guide is for
This guide is departmental advice from Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).
The guide sets out the funding rules for free meals and forms part of institutions鈥� ESFA funding agreements. The guide is intended to help further education funded institutions understand their obligation to provide free meals to disadvantaged students. Institutions must comply with the rules and be able to show they comply at any audit.
Updates to this page
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We have updated the free meals in further education (FE) funded institutions guide: 2024 to 2025 to confirm that the per-meal rate for free meals in FE will increase from 拢2.53 to 拢2.58 for 2024 to 2025.
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First published.