A significant number of pupils living in poverty, notably those from Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Indian backgrounds, are missing out on free school meals and the pupil premium, a warns.
The Education Policy Institute (EPI) research does not quantify the number of pupils missing out but says there are “significant differences” between the number of children estimated to be living in poverty and the number who are receiving free school meals (FSM) and/or are in receipt of the pupil premium.
Under the pupil premium, schools receive between £1,035 and £2,455 per year for each pupil who has been eligible for, and been registered for, FSM in the past six years.
EPI researchers say the disparity is due to a number of factors, including the low-income threshold for FSM eligibility (£7,400 per year), under-registration and FSM eligibility rules that ignore factors like housing costs and family size.
The report’s call for the government to look at automatically enrolling eligible children for FSM to ensure better coverage was backed by school leaders and endorsed by the Commons Education Select Committee this week.
Free school meals gap varies by ethnicity
The EPI used data from the national pupil database from 2003 to 2023 in England and compared this with poverty estimates based on government surveys.
It found that the gap for disadvantaged pupils of Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Indian origin was particularly big. In Reception and Year 2 there was approximately 40 percentage points between the numbers of these pupils living in poverty and those receiving FSM.
In Year 3 to Year 6 and Year 7 to Year 11, the gap was around 30 percentage points.
For white British pupils, the differences between the number on FSM and the number in poverty across the year groups were between 10 to 15 percentage points.
The report says under-registration for FSM is especially high among younger primary children and seems to be higher in more deprived local authorities, meaning that support is not always reaching the children who need it most.
The EPI recommends that the government should conduct updated studies to find out how many eligible children are not claiming FSM or being registered for the pupil premium.
The government should also expand FSM eligibility, remove the current restrictions on FSM eligibility for pre-school children, increase the salary threshold for families, and provide sufficient funding, it adds.
Dr Tammy Campbell, director for early years, inequalities and wellbeing at the EPI, said: “FSM has long been used as a key measure for multiple purposes within research and policymaking. Now it is time to review and improve its uses, and to look at alternatives, to better support economically disadvantaged children within the education system. Accurately and comprehensively identifying children living in poverty is the first step to serving these pupils.”
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, backed the report’s recommendations, saying: “We have long argued that free school meals should be extended to all families in receipt of universal credit rather than only those below a very low income threshold; that all eligible children should be automatically enrolled so that no child misses out; and that schools should be paid a higher rate of pupil premium to support children who are in persistent poverty.
“We hope that the government’s child poverty taskforce will report soon, come to these conclusions and recommend further steps to reduce the appallingly high level of child poverty in the UK.”
The Department for Education has been approached for comment.
For the latest education news and analysis delivered every weekday morning, sign up for the Tes Daily newsletter
