Free School Meals (FSM)

It is easy to apply for Free School Meals. Guidance and information on how to apply for Free School Meals can be found on Cambridgeshire County Council's website here. The application form is easy to complete, but please contact us if you would like further assistance.

Pupils who receive free school meals have £2.35 placed on their canteen account every school day. This can be spent at break or lunchtime in the canteen. The process is private and the pupil cannot be identified as receiving Free School Meals when they use their biometric identity.

When you register your children for Free School Meals, the College will receive a sum of money from the government for each child. This is fund is called Pupil Premium.

If eligible for Free School Meals, families can save around £450 a year per child.

Pupil Premium Funding

The Government believes that  Pupil Premium (PP) funding, which is additional to main school funding, is the best way to address the underlying inequalities between children who are eligible for free school meals (FSM), or who have been eligible in the last 6 years, and their peers.  

Schools also receive funding for: children who have been looked after continuously for more than six months and students who are were looked after and are now no longer in care. Students who are the children of either currently serving member of HM forces, or who have retired on a pension from the Ministry of Defence qualify for  ‘Service Premium’ is not classed as Pupil Premium but is allocated to help with pastoral support.   

The Pupil Premium (PP) and Service Premium currently stands at:  

• £1050 for every secondary age pupil who claims free school meals or who has claimed free school meals in the last 6 years.  
• £2,570 for every pupil who are within local authority care.  
• £2,570 for every pupil who has left local authority care through adoption, a special guardianship order or child arrangements order.  
• £340 for every child of either a serving member of HM forces or retired on a pension from the MOD.  

The PP funding is used to help fund a range of educational benefits for pupils across the school such as targeted small group interventions, additional pastoral support, or inclusion in school activities such as extra-curricular clubs, school trips and music lessons.   

It is a requirement for the academic year 2024-25 that the school publishes both how the money was spent in 2023-24 and how it is going to be spent in the coming year 2024-25. 

There are several activities outlined in ‘The strategy document’ which have been taken from the new ‘Abbey College Pupil Premium Charter’. 

The strategy document can be found in the side panel and here.

Further information can be found of the County Council website, here.

The Charter focuses on closing the gap in attainment, attendance, parental engagement, CEIAG (Careers, Information, Advice and Guidance) and pupil experiences.   

There is much evidence to suggest that those in receipt of Pupil Premium funding do not always experience a rich set of activities and opportunities which broaden their outlook and perspective.  Therefore, a significant strand of the Charter focuses on giving pupils a set of experiences and memories they will never forget.  We encourage all pupils, but especially those in receipt of Pupil Premium Funding, to extend the boundaries of learning and take part in school trips, visits and to live a broad range of childhood experiences offered by our Offers and Opportunities Programme (OOP).    

The impact of activities outlined in the Charter and in the strategy document above, are reviewed throughout the academic year both internally by the school, as well as through external quality assurance visits.