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22 April 2026

Tag: free school meals

Catering giant’s menu leaves a sour taste in some schools

The catering giant Chartwells has lost school food contracts worth up to £19 million since its lockdown parcels sparked outcry earlier this year, with one trust accusing it of putting “profit before pupils”. But the company has still bagged seven deals in recent months worth at least £92 million over the next six years, assuming […]

Schools, pupils and their characteristics 2021: 5 things we learned

The secondary and special school populations continue to grow in England, the latest data shows, with a slight decrease in the number of primary pupils and a big fall in those attending pupil referral units. The Department for Education has published its annual schools, pupils and their characteristics data collection, which is based on the […]

More than 1 in 5 pupils on free school meals after Covid surge

More than one in five pupils are now eligible for free school meals (FSM) following a steep rise during the pandemic, new government data has revealed. Department for Education (DfE) data on schools, pupils and their characteristics, published this morning, show an extra 300,000 pupils became eligible for free school meals since last year. In […]

Free school meals voucher extension risked legal challenges

The government’s last-minute U-turn on providing free school meals vouchers over the summer holidays risked exposing it to legal challenges that would have a “medium to high” chance of success, internal documents reveal. However, Department for Education officials said that as the £191 million contract extension for Edenred – awarded without a tender – was […]

DfE’s ‘Falcon’ turnaround trust tells staff there’s no such thing as a free lunch

The government’s turnaround “Falcon” trust has made cutbacks at a struggling academy that even the Department for Education’s cost-cutting consultants previously left untouched – telling some staff there’s no such thing as a free lunch. The Falcon Education Academies Trust took on its first school, Thornaby Academy in Stockton-on-Tees, last September. The trust was launched […]

DfE raids existing budgets for a third of £4.3bn Covid spending

Almost a third of the Department for Education’s extra Covid spending will be taken from existing budgets or underspends in other areas, according to a new report. Education unions said it reinforced their fears over the Treasury’s commitment to education recovery, and accused the government of “creative accounting”. The research, published by the Institute for […]

Caterer Compass repays furlough cash after free school meal parcel row

A multinational catering firm at the centre of the free school meal parcel fiasco has announced plans to repay millions in furlough cash and serve more plant-based meals. Official figures published this month show Compass Services UK claimed between £12.5 million and £25 million between December and February alone to pay staff wages. Data has […]

Study to track Covid’s long-term impact on pupils’ life chances

A new study will track Covid’s long-term impact on the life chances of thousands of year 11 pupils. The £4.6 million Covid social mobility and opportunities (COSMO) study will look at the pandemic’s long-term consequences for 12,000 participants’ education, careers and wellbeing. Researchers at the Sutton Trust think tank and University College London plan to […]