free school meals | Schools Week

A deep dive into Progress 8 and disadvantage

The Department for Education released its revised GCSE results for the 2016-17 exams on January 25, and Schools Week has taken a deep dive into the data to see how disadvantaged pupils fared at different types of schools. Pupils are defined as “disadvantaged” if they have been eligible for free school meals in the past […]

Universal Infant Free School Meals – what has the impact been so far?

Some parents and school leaders believe free lunches are having positive effects on the lives of infants and their families, but the costs to schools may become unsustainable unless the government keeps an eye on how much money it provides, writes Peter Sellen, who co-authored the EPI’s new report In September 2013, the previous coalition […]

Universal credit: an impending ‘disaster’ for FSM pupils

The government has yet to decide how the universal credit benefits system will interact with free school meals, and a former shadow education secretary is predicting a “disaster waiting to happen”. Universal credit combines six benefits into one payment for eligible people old enough to work and is now being rolled out across the country, […]

Investigation: Schools face postcode lottery in free school meals take-up

Figures released last week reveal that registration for means-tested free school meals – which is linked to pupil premium funding – is at its lowest since records began. Freddie Whittaker delves into local authority data to see how rates vary across the country and how councils are encouraging parents to sign up. Schools across England […]

Corbyn fails to dish up evidence on free meals as councils admit there is none

Jeremy Corbyn’s claim that councils that provide free meals to all primary pupils are boosting attainment and health has been dealt a hammer blow after local authorities admitted no such evidence exists. The Labour leader has pledged to charge VAT on private school fees to raise £1.5 billion to pay for an extension of universal […]

£100k per council would abolish holiday hunger, MPs claim

A cross-parliamentary group of MPs have said handing every local authority just over £100,000 a year would end holiday hunger. A report by the all-party parliamentary group on hunger, published today, stated that three million children risk going hungry in the school holidays. But the group said the government could end the issue by diverting […]

How should we define ‘disadvantaged’ pupils?

Separating pupils into those who qualify for free schools meals and those who don’t does little to highlight the more nuanced and complex picture in relation to attainment outcomes for different pupils, says Sameena Choudry. The Social Mobility Commission (SMC) research Ethnicity, Gender and Social Mobility, carried out in partnership with LKMCo and Education Datalab […]

EEF trial finds breakfast clubs more effective than infant free school meals

Breakfast clubs are more cost-effective than the government’s flagship £1 billion universal infant free school meals policy in improving outcomes for pupils in disadvantaged areas, according to researchers. A year-long trial in 106 primary schools, funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), found pupils made an extra two months’ progress when a free breakfast club […]

Free school meals are still the best measure of deprivation

It may not be the clearest way to allocate extra funds to disadvantaged pupils, but it’s the best there is, says Alex Sutherland. Every year, the UK government allocates £2.5 billion to state schools to support disadvantaged pupils via the pupil premium. To figure out how to allocate these funds, the government uses free school […]