Correspondence

DfE Update academies: 13 May 2026

Published 13 May 2026

Applies to England

1. Information: Free school meals guidance for 2026 to 2027

In June 2025, we announced an expansion of free school meals (FSM) to all households that receive Universal Credit. This will take effect from the start of the 2026 to 2027 school year and applies to all settings currently required to provide FSM to eligible pupils.

Transitional protections for free meals will finish at the end of the current school year. From the start of the next school year, pupils must meet the FSM eligibility criteria to continue receiving provision. Schools and local authorities should check FSM entitlement annually ahead of the October school census.

We have published updated guidance for schools and local authorities setting out how the new FSM entitlement should be administered.

We have also published details on the free school meals expansion grant. This will provide funding to support additional costs arising from the expansion for mainstream schools and high needs settings in the 2026 to 2027 financial year.

Separate guidance on early years will follow.

2. Information: Free meals in further education funded institutions guide: 2026 to 2027 academic year

You can read the further education (FE) free meals guidance for the 2026 to 2027 academic year to understand changes, including funding rules and eligibility criteria for the scheme for the new academic year.

From the start of the 2026 to 2027 academic year, all students from households that receive Universal Credit will be entitled to receive a free meal. Post-16 providers will receive extra funding through free meals in FE to support meal provision for additional eligible students.

Transitional protections will end and households must meet the new eligibility criteria to continue receiving free meals.

As confirmed in 11 March 2026 DfE Update, your allocation is based on the current meal rate of £2.61 per student. This is confirmation that, as a minimum, the rates will remain the same as in the previous year to support planning. As with all programmes, funding remains under review, and further updates will be shared separately.

3. Information: Oversight of apprenticeship units – sector update

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is supporting the successful introduction of apprenticeship units as the offer becomes established for providers, employers, and learners.

Apprenticeship units are a new form of publicly funded training based on apprenticeship standards. They are typically short, delivered in the workplace and undertaken by existing employees.

To ensure that quality oversight is proportionate and reflects the distinctive nature of apprenticeship units, DWP and Ofsted have agreed that apprenticeship units will not be brought into scope for Ofsted inspection until April 2027 at the earliest.

This approach gives providers and employers time to develop and embed effective delivery models, while allowing DWP and Ofsted to consider the design of an appropriate quality framework.

During this period, apprenticeship units will not be inspected as part of routine Ofsted activity. They will be monitored on a light touch basis by DWP and DfE using simple measures and kept separate from qualification achievement rates. As the test and learn phase progresses, further detail will be published on how apprenticeship units will be incorporated into the Apprenticeship Accountability Framework in a proportionate and flexible way.

4. Feedback: Tell us about your experience of the DfE Update newsletter

We have launched a short survey for colleagues in education settings and local authorities who read DfE Update. Your responses will help us understand how you use the newsletter, what you value most and how we can improve the content, format and focus.

Whether you read DfE Update every week or occasionally, your views will directly inform how we develop the product to better meet your needs.

The DfE Update survey:

• will close on Tuesday 26 May 2026
• takes around 10 minutes to complete
• keeps all personal data confidential

Thank you for taking the time to share your views.

5. Feedback: Help us to improve the DfE ‘Get help buying for schools’ service

Are you involved in procurement in a school or trust? Do you want to help improve how information is organised on our Get help buying for schools website?

We’re inviting you to share your views through a short online activity. Your feedback will help us design content that is clearer, easier to navigate and better suited to your daily needs when managing procurement.

Taking part involves:

• a quick online card sorting activity available until Thursday 21 May 2026
• answering a few questions about you and your organisation
• grouping content in a way that makes sense to you

The activity takes 10 to 15 minutes to complete and no previous experience of using the ‘Get help buying for schools’ website is required.

Thank you for helping us improve the service.

6. Events and webinars: Q&A drop in sessions – Academies chart of accounts and automation

Thursday 14 May 2026 at midday to 12:30pm. Register on Eventbrite.

7. Events and webinars: Power hour – School food policy (part 1 of 2) – how the funding flows from DfE to schools

Thursday 14 May 2026 at 3pm to 4pm. Register on Eventbrite.

8. Events and webinars: Risk protection arrangement members only – Fire workshop

Wednesday 20 May 2026 at 10am to midday. Register online.

9. Events and webinars: Power hour – School food policy (part 2 of 2) – using funding to procure a catering contract

Thursday 21 May 2026 at 3pm to 4pm. Register on Eventbrite