Streamlining Free School Meal administration

Sponsored content by Tucasi

The cost-of-living crisis affects every aspect of school life, and across the UK, eligibility for Free School Meals (FSM) has increased from 17.3% (2020) to 23.8% (2023) of the school population, or two million children.

We have also seen changes to help non-eligible pupils. From Stockport to Southwark, councils are extending Universal Free School Meals (UFSM) to more children. Moreover, Tower Hamlets Council became the first local authority in England to fund meals for all pupils up to the age of sixteen.

Benefits of Free School Meals

School lunches ensure that children have at least one healthy, nutritious meal every day, regardless of their circumstances. For schools, the chief benefit is the effect of nutrition on pupil’s concentration, behaviour and attainment. Studies into children’s diet and long-term cognitive function show that a healthier diet improves attention and memory. Children from deprived backgrounds have lower-quality, less nutritious diets, with added fats, and are more likely to skip breakfast; resulting in poor performance in class. (Source)

Universal Infant Free School Meals

When the UIFSM programme was introduced, school dinner uptake increased, leading to improvements in health, as pupils became more likely to be a healthy weight. UIFSM also reduces absences and decreases the attendance gap between disadvantaged and more advantaged pupils. (Source)

What this means for schools

The positive impact is undeniable; nonetheless, keeping track of a whole school’s FSM and UFSM statuses, correctly charging or crediting for meals, and producing accurate financial reports can be complicated and time-consuming. School business managers and administrators need reliable tools to manage data and processes.

Help with Free School Meal administration

Tucasi developed functionality specifically for school administration and payments when UIFSM was introduced. This automatically identifies eligible pupils, lifting the burden from school admin teams.

Continuing our development research with schools, a recent addition enables schools to control UFSM statuses by date of birth, rather than year group, helping parents pre-order meals prior to the start of the new academic year.

Tucasi offers a suite of modules packed with features that make administration easy. This includes integrated tools to track, manage and report on free meals and other funding streams, including Pupil Premium and Childcare Vouchers.

To find out more about Tucasi, please visit their EdTech Impact profile page.