Failures include the family income threshold of £7,400 for eligibility being set too low, according to the Education Policy Institute (EPI).
Also, “factors such as housing costs and family size, which are heavily associated with poverty” are not being considered.
The think-tank found that “partly by design” the current system means “fewer children are registered for FSM than are estimated to be in poverty”.
The system’s opt in arrangements are also called into question by the EPI, which agrees with a report by the Education Select Committee last month, which called for auto-enrolment.
Groups most likely to miss out under the current system are those with Pakistani, Bangledeshi or Indian heritage. Poverty rates are “far higher” than those registered for free school meals among these groups.
EPI also found that “under-registration for FSM is especially high among younger primary children and seems to be higher in more deprived local authorities, meaning support is not always reaching the children who need it most”.
Marked differences in FSM take up between local authority areas and schools, which use pupil premium “to proxy disadvantage” are also noted
While in some schools just 1% of pupil premium children have registered for free school meals each year, in others almost all pupil premium children are registered.
Similarly, in some council areas fewer than 1% of Year 11 pupil premium children have always been registered for FSM since reception, while in others the proportion is more than a third.
FMS auto-enrolment is also needed to ensure the youngest disadvantaged children receive the benefit, say researchers.
The think-tank found that “the youngest primary (school) children in particular are less likely to be registered, and this is problematic because investment in the earliest years lays important foundations”.
📢 Today, the Education Policy Institute (EPI), funded by @NuffieldFound, published a new report exploring the strengths & weaknesses of Free School Meals (FSM) and Pupil Premium (PP) as measures for identifying disadvantaged pupils in England.
— Education Policy Institute (@EduPolicyInst) March 6, 2025
Main findings👇
National Education Union general secretary Daniel Kebede said that the current family income eligibility threshold of £7,400 “is a disgrace” and backs FSM auto-enrolment.
“This report demonstrates how children and schools are missing out on crucial support because of out-of-touch bureaucracy blocking children’s access to food,” he said.
“Worse still, the report shows how even those who meet the criteria are still not getting their entitlement. This has knock-on effects as schools lose out on vital pupil premium funding to support their most vulnerable children.
“We urge the Government to make sure no child is missing out, by investing in our pupils with free school meals for all. In the meantime, it should automatically enrol all pupils entitled to free school meals.”
In a report published last October the Fix Our Food campaign, involving academics at the universities of Leeds, Cranfield, York and Oxford, found that 200,000 eligible children in England are missing out on free school meals.
The campaign’s auto-enrolment trial among 20 councils led to 20,000 more pupils receiving the benefit.
Research released last year by the University of Manchester estimates 900,000 children living in poverty in England are missing out on free school meals, including those excluded from school.
