The percentage of pupils claiming free school meals in Catholic schools remains below the national average, according to the Catholic Education Service (CES) annual census, published this week.
According to the new figures, the proportion of pupils receiving free meals in Catholic schools was 13.9 per cent, compared with 16.3 per cent nationally. However, the gap is narrowing: last year the Catholic figure was 14.1 per cent compared with 17.1 per cent that year nationally.
However, the CES argues that free school meals are only one indicator of diversity in schools, and not necessarily the best one given that families from some ethnic groups with strong Catholicity – some eastern European communities and the Tamil community – tend not to claim free meals, even when they are entitled to them.
The census shows there has been an increase in the proportion of pupils from ethnic minorities: 35.9 per cent of pupils in Catholic maintained primary schools are from ethnic minority backgrounds (29.5 per cent nationally) and 31.4 per cent of pupils in Catholic secondary schools are from ethnic minority backgrounds (25.3 per cent nationally).
The proportion of pupils from deprived areas has also increased from last year: 17.9 per cent of Catholic secondary school pupils live in the most deprived areas, compared with 12 per cent nationally. In primary schools the gap has widened considerably since 2013: 19.2 per cent of pupils at Catholic primaries (18.4 per cent in 2013) are from the most deprived areas, compared to 10 per cent of all primary children (13.8 per cent nationally last year).
The census also showed there has been a small overall increase in the number of schools in England. The total was 24,347 in 2014, compared with 24,328 the previous year. Overall, the Catholic sector has increased in size, with 3,795 more pupils educated in Catholic maintained schools and an increase of 1,322 teachers working in Catholic maintained schools in England last year.
The proportion of Catholic pupils in maintained schools and colleges decreased slightly, as in previous years, from 70.2 per cent in 2013 to 69.5 per cent in the current year. But, according to the report, the figures do not tell the whole story: in the maintained primary sector the number of Catholic pupils increased by about 9,000, but the total number of pupils also rose; while in secondary schools the number of Catholic pupils was almost identical to the 2013 figure, although the total number of pupils whose affiliation was Catholic rose by about 7,000.
For the independent sector the proportion was 36.7 per cent, similar to the 2013 figure.
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