Free school meals data revealed

Vulnerable children in West Sussex are more likely to receive free school meals than five years ago, new figures have shown.

Data from the Department of Education showed that by the end of the 2020-21 school year, 43 per cent of West Sussex’s children in need were eligible for free school meals – up from 36 percent at the same point in 2016-17.

A child in need is defined by the government as a child who needs support from their local authority to maintain a decent standard of development and education.

Free school meals are available to children who have parents receiving benefits or are on incomes of less than £7,400 – so an increase in the number of children on free school meals can be an indicator of declining living standards.

The pandemic coincided with a small year-on-year increase in pupils needing free school meals in West Sussex – between the end of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years, two per cent more children became eligible for them.

The figures cover children in need who are not in receipt of a children protection plan and are not in foster homes or adoption.

Last school year England saw the largest increase in eligibility among children in need since 2016-17, when the figures were first recorded, of six per cent.

Across the country, 57 per cent of children in this category were eligible for free school meals at the end of 2020-21, up from 45% in 2016-17.

This compares to 21 per cent among the overall pupil population, up from 14 per cent in 2017. In West Sussex, 13 per cent of all pupils were on free school meals, compared to eight per cent in 2017.