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Written question asked by Tim Yeo (Conservative) on Thursday, 7 November 2013, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 12 November 2013 (named day). It was answered by David Laws (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 12 November 2013 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Free School Meals

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what percentage of school children between the ages of five and 16 years old are eligible for free school meals in (a) the UK, (b) East Anglia and (c) South Suffolk constituency.

Answer

Free school meal information for pupils in England, East Anglia and South Suffolk constituency for January 2013 is shown in the following tables. This includes pupils who have full-time attendance and are aged 15 or under, or have part-time attendance and are aged between five and 15, where age is calculated as at 31 August 2012.

The percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals in the rest of the UK is the responsibility of the Welsh Government, the Scottish Government and the Department for Education, Northern Ireland.

Maintained nursery, state-funded primary, state-funded secondary schools, special schools and pupil referral units1, 2, 3, 4, 5: number of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals, January 2013, England, East Anglia and South Suffolk constituency
Maintained nursery and state-funded primary schools1, 2
 State-funded secondary schools1, 3
 Special schools4
LA code
 Number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals6, 7
 Percentage known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals
 Number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals6, 7
 Percentage known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals
 Number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals6, 7
 Percentage known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals
England
 776,445
 19.2
 452,600
 16.3
 31,655
 38.3
East Anglia8
 26,170
 15.5
 14,850
 12.2
 1,036
 34.9
South Suffolk Constituency
 677
 11.5
 442
 9.1
 15
 26.8
Pupil referral units5
 Total
LA code
 Number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals6, 7
 Percentage known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals
 Number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals6, 7
 Percentage known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals
England
 5,070
 40.1
 1,265,770
 18.3
East Anglia8
 145
 26.7
 42,200
 14.3
South Suffolk Constituency
 3
 50.0
 1,135
 10.5
1 Includes middle schools as deemed.
2 Includes all primary academies, including free schools.
3 Includes city technology colleges and all secondary academies, including free schools, university technical colleges and studio schools.
4 Excludes general hospital schools. Includes special academies and free schools.
5 Includes pupils in Alternative Provision academies and free schools.
6 Includes pupils who are sole or dual main registrations. Includes boarders. In pupil referral units also includes pupils registered with other providers and further education colleges.
7 Pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals who have full-time attendance and are aged 15 or under, or pupils who have part-time attendance and are aged between five and 15.
8 East Anglia includes Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Peterborough and Suffolk local authorities.
Note:
Total figures have been rounded to the nearest five to prevent disclosure of small numbers (e.g. when used in conjunction with data held elsewhere) therefore totals may not appear to equal the sum of the component parts.
Source:
School Census.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
175261; 570 cc605-6W
Session
2013-14
Subjects
Disadvantaged Free school meals Pupils
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk