Pupils in poverty missing out on free school meals - EPI
A new report from the Education Policy Institute (EPI) has found there are fewer children registered for free school meals (FSM) than estimated to be in poverty, throwing doubt on FSM as a measure for identifying disadvantaged pupils.
The report, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, found that children in poverty were missing out on FSM due to a number of factors, including the low income threshold (£7,400 per year), under registration, and eligibility rules that ignore factors like housing costs and family size. Under registration appears to be 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.
The gap between the number of children living in poverty and the number of children registered for FSM or receiving the PP is especially noticeable for children from certain communities, including those from Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Indian backgrounds. In these groups, poverty rates are much higher than FSM (or Pupuil Premium) registration suggests, meaning many children in need may not be receiving adequate support. The composition of FSM and non-FSM groups has also shifted over time, with the non-FSM group becoming more ethnically and linguistically diverse more quickly. The EPI also note that protections introduced by the Department for Education alongside the roll out of Universal Credit has created unequal access to FSM, with some children keeping their eligibility status despite increased parental income, while others in similarly low-income families do not qualify.
The report makes a number of recommendations, including that the government should conduct updated studies using linked cross-government data to find out how many eligible children are not claiming FSM or registered for Pupil Premium. It also calls on the government to expand the coverage of FSM eligibility, removing the current restrictions on FSM eligibility for pre-school children, increasing the salary threshold for families. Funding should be increased to meet this expanded eligibility, the report says, and the government should consider centrally automatically enrolling eligible children for FSM to ensure better coverage, especially for younger children. This last recommendation follows a similar call last month by the Education Select Committee.
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.’
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, commented: ‘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. Means testing means children missing out. The eligibility threshold for free school meals is a disgrace: a household income over £7,400 per year (before benefits) means a child is too well off to qualify. 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.’ This last point was echoed by Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders: ‘All eligible children should be automatically enrolled so that no child misses out’. He also called for schools to be paid a higher rate of pupil premium to support children who are in persistent poverty.
Full report: https://tinyurl.com/4heap6mj