SCHOOL budgets will drop by tens of thousands of pounds due to eligibility changes for free school meals under universal credit (UC), a headteacher has warned.

Tania Beard of St Martin’s CofE Primary in Cranbrook, Devon told the Commons education committee on Tuesday that with more children missing out on free lunches, schools could also see a fall in pupil premium funding received for each disadvantaged student – as much as £1,320 per child.

Ms Beard said that following a pilot rollout of UC in the county, she had seen a four times bigger gap between children who were classified as disadvantaged and those who were on free school meals.

She told the committee that it would have an “enormous impact” in six-years time.

“Our funding is going to drop dramatically and we use that funding to support our youngest children, so that they don’t then become children who have special educational needs (SEN) as they go through,” she said.

“So they have additional nurture, have movement support. If that money goes, this SEN crisis is going to get worse."

Up to 2.6 million children whose parents are on benefits could miss out on free school meals by 2022 after the earnings threshold for claiming free school meals was set at £7,400 in April 2018, Labour found in June.

A Department for Education spokesman said that no child that was previously eligible under the old system will lose their free school meals as a result of the introduction of UC.

Committee chairman Robert Halfon said he would raise the concerns with Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd.