The new Expanded FSM category - 2026
Updated
From Autumn 2026, the DfE have introduced new categories for FSM.
- Targeted FSM - Pupils entitled to Free School Meals under the existing rules. This category refers to the original cohort of pupils eligible for benefits related FSM. Only pupils eligible for Targeted FSM will be counted towards the following:
- The FSM6 (ever 6) cohort. (That is pupils who are, or have been, recorded as eligible for FSM at any point in the last 6 years.) And, therefore -
- Pupil Premium funding.
- Expanded FSM - pupils eligible for FSM under the new expansion grant. That is, those pupils from households in receipt of universal credit, but who do not meet the criteria for Targeted FSM.
- Other FSM - Pupils entitled under any other route, such as a local authority scheme
What has changed in Insight?
Insight has been fully updated to support the new FSM categories.
All pupils who were recorded as FSM will automatically change to Targeted FSM, as this is the new name for the previous category. So there is no need for any action to update Insight.
Other changes include:
- Wonde sync. Wonde do not yet support syncing of the new FSM categories. We will add this to Insight as soon as it's available in Wonde
- The Pupil Profile now shows the specific FSM category and Manual editing allows selection of the new categories
- Importing a CTF will update the FSM category for pupils
- FSM categories are available in Insight as filters or to Group Pupils
- The Demographics report now shows the % of pupils eligible for Free School Meals under the Targeted category. (This may change if national data is later made available for other categories)
- The FSM column in Tables reports will now show the specific FSM category for each pupil (rather than just FSM)
- Placeholders for parent reports and Learning Plans. The existing placeholder will now include any FSM category as FSM. The parent report or learning plan will continue to just show FSM, as before. No change is required to your templates. A new FSM Category placeholder is available if you'd prefer to show the actual category of FSM a pupil is eligible for.
- If you export pupil data, it will include the specific FSM category
As DfE guidance and national data reporting emerges, we will amend Insight as appropriate.
