18th Dec 2025
School meals update- effective from January 1st, 2026
The Education Authority (EA) recently set out a number of savings measures in response to a significant funding shortfall of around £300million.
As part of these measures, school meal prices will increase in January for the first time since 2017.
Pupils entitled to Free School Meals will not be affected by this rise, and in pre-school, primary and special school settings will continue to receive a meal as before.
For pupils who are not entitled to free school meals, new prices will come into effect in January 2026 and are reflected in the figures to the right of the poster attached.
