You can check whether a family is eligible for Free School Meals by querying the Department for Education's Eligibility Checking Engine (ECE). The system automatically checks the family's details against DWP and HMRC records and returns an immediate result. Follow these steps to perform a single eligibility check.
Before you start
You need the following before you can check eligibility:
ECE must be configured and enabled in System Manager → Options → Common → ECE.
The family must have a National Insurance number or NASS number recorded.
The family must have a date of birth recorded for the main parent.
Step 1: Find and open the family record
In FSMB, click Family.
Click the Query button on the toolbar.
Enter the family's surname, forename, or other known details.
Click OK.
Double-click the family row to open the family record.
Step 2: Perform the FSM eligibility check
In the FSM Check section on the right side of the form, click the FSM Check button.
The system submits the check to ECE and automatically polls for results. This typically takes a few seconds.
📌Note: The Status, Date, and Type fields will update to show the result of the check.
Step 3: Review the eligibility result
The Status field displays the result:
Found - The family is eligible for Free School Meals.
Not Found - The family is not currently eligible.
If the result is Not Found, a qualifier provides additional information about why:
Final - Confirmed as not eligible.
Found Pre-thresholds - Eligible under old criteria; verify child's date of birth.
Manual process - Verify household earnings manually.
No Trace - Check data - Incorrect details entered; check and correct the family's NI number and date of birth.
Pending - Keep checking - Result not yet available; try again later.
Unknown - Raise manual query - Request manual evidence of eligibility from the family.
Step 4: Update the Family FSM Status
Based on the ECE result, the system automatically updates the Family FSM Status according to your Eligibility Check Status Matrix configuration.
Check the Status field in the Family FSM Status section.
If the status hasn't been automatically updated, select the appropriate status from the drop-down list.
Click Save
🤓Tip: Click the **FSM History** button to view all previous eligibility checks performed for this family.
What happens next
When the Family FSM Status is updated:
The system may automatically cascade the status to all children in the family based on your FSM Status Matrix configuration.
A pop-up window may display allowing you to review and confirm which children should be updated.
Children with Protected FSM statuses will not be updated automatically.