Proportion of pupils claiming free school meals drops to 15 year low

The proportion of pupils in England claiming free school meals has dropped to its lowest level in 15 years, according to figures published by the Department for Education (DfE).

Information collected in the January 2016 school census showed that 14.5 per cent of pupils at state primaries receive free school meals, compared to around 18 per cent in 2013.

In secondary schools, 13.2 per cent of pupils claimed free school meals, down from around 15 per cent in 2013.

These represent the lowest proportion of pupils receiving free school meals since 2001, when data first started being collected.

In light of these figures, the Children’s Food Trust has warned that nearly 15 per cent of infants still aren’t taking up the free meal that they are entitled to, which it describes as a ‘big concern’.

Jo Nicholas, head of research at the Trust, said: “We welcome the news that more than 1.6 million infant school children are continuing to access a healthy school lunch through the Universal Infant Free School Meal scheme: good food at lunchtime improves children’s focus in class and is helping to build healthy habits for life. However, it’s a big concern that nearly 15 per cent of infants still aren’t taking up the free meal that they’re entitled to.

“The census also shows quite a fall since last year in the proportion of children at primary school who qualify for free school meals, but aren’t taking them up (from 86.7 percent to 82.9 percent). This is a real worry and in the coming months we want to look into the reasons for this – we don’t want any child living in poverty to miss out on a nutritious meal at school. Not only does it help improve their focus in class, but it can be their only proper meal of the day – particularly important when so many families are struggling to make their food budgets stretch.”