Free school meals data an unreliable indicator of deprivation

Using free school meal data as a way of measuring poverty among pupils is unreliable, researchers say.

According to a report by St Mary’s University, Free School Meals (FSM) data published by the Department for Education is not necessarily a reliable indicator of socio-economic deprivation.

The report reveals that government figures do not include pupils who are eligible for FSM but do not claim them.

Researchers claim this data is, therefore, “very misleading” when measuring deprivation and poverty in school as it only reflects the actual FSM uptake

The report shows that Catholic schools in England and Wales recruit disproportionate numbers of both economically deprived and ethnic minority pupils.

For example, the report shows that while FSM figures show a low number of pupil from deprived backgrounds in Catholic schools, with 12.8 per cent of children receiving free meals in comparison to 15 per cent in state schools, deprivation measures such as the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index shows that students from the most deprived backgrounds are over-represented in Catholic schools.

A number of reasons as to why pupils may not claim free meals, as outlined in the report, include; a lack of clear information regarding eligibility, language and literacy barriers, cultural perceptions of welfare, and the choice of food.

The report concludes that the data is “reductive and misleading as a measure of deprivation” and it “leads to inaccurate perceptions of schools and impacts the targeting of support”.

Speaking about these findings, report co-author, Professor Stephen Bullivant, the director of the Benedict XVI Centre for Religion and Society, said: “Class inequality is a real problem in Britain affecting children’s attainment.

“This data fails to understand different degrees of poverty and the practical obstacles people entitled to benefits face. It also highlights the specific challenges facing families from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, who are over-represented in Catholic schools.”