Income-based free school meals (FSM) aim to ensure disadvantaged school children have access to at least one healthy meal each day. Healthy, free meals at school help enable all children to have the same opportunities to learn and thrive, no matter where they grow up.
Section 512 of the Education Act 1996 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and free schools to provide free school meals to pupils of all ages that meet the eligibility criteria (see apply for free school meals webpage for details).
This briefing focuses on the number of children eligible for income-based free school meals in West Sussex, using data provided by the Department for Education:
Key messages for 2023/24:
- In 2023/24, 15.7% of pupils in West Sussex were known to be eligible for free school meals. This equates to around 18,600 pupils in the county.
- Nationally, around a quarter of pupils are known to be eligible for free school meals (24.6%).
- The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals has increased over time nationally and locally. This is likely to reflect transitional protections put in place during the roll out of Universal Credit, which continued until March 2025.
- Free school meal eligibility differs among several groups, for example varying by school type, ethnicity, age, and region.