Free school meals an unreliable poverty measure, report finds

The number of children who receive free school meals is an increasingly “unreliable” way of measuring poverty, which can create a deeply misleading impression of faith schools’ recruitment policies, according to a new report.

Researchers at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, say that data published by the Department for Education in England and Wales only includes the number of children who receive free school meals rather than the number who are eligible. Such figures have become an “unreliable indicator” of hardship and do not always target the “hidden poor”, the study warns.

“These figures are often cited by campaigners and the media in support of the view that faith schools are socially selective, catering to the affluent middle classes. Our research demonstrates that this inference, at least with regard to Catholic schools, rests on a very shaky foundation,” the report’s co-author, Professor Stephen Bullivant, told The Tablet.

In what Professor Bullivant described as a “stark contrast”, the research shows that a comparatively low number of pupils from deprived backgrounds in Catholic schools in England (12.8 per cent take free school meals compared with 15 per cent in all state schools), another official measure of poverty, the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI), reveals that 18.4 per cent of children in Catholic primary schools live in the most deprived areas compared with 13.8 per cent of pupils across state primary schools as a whole.

The report, entitled “The Take-up of Free School Meals in Catholic Schools in England and Wales”, says there are many reasons why parents who might be eligible do not accept free school meals. These include concerns about children being stigmatised or “cultural” attitudes to welfare.

The numbers of pupils taking free school meals is also used to calculate how much government money schools receive from the pupil premium, which is targeted at disadvantaged students.

The research highlights the specific challenges facing families from different ethnic backgrounds, who are often over-represented in Catholic Schools. “The Catholic population in Britain has its own unique demographic, including large numbers of non-British,” said Professor Bullivant. “So it is quite possible [free school meal] figures in Catholic schools are affected by factors like migrant status or language barriers in the application process.” Professor Bullivant called on the Government to stop mislabelling uptake as eligibility and urged schools to provide clear and concise information on the scheme throughout the year.

The Department for Education said its statistics cover the number of pupils who are eligible for and  claim free school meals. “Other studies have found being eligible for and claiming free school meals to be a suitable proxy for deprivation,” a spokeswoman said.