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Free School Meals

Question for Department for Education

UIN 91762, tabled on 18 September 2020

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in England are (a) eligible and (b) registered for free school meals.

Answered on

23 September 2020

As of the schools January 2020 census, the number of children known to be eligible for
benefits-related free school meals in England was 1,440,778. Additionally, at the same census point, a further 1.4 million received a free meal under the Universal Infant Free School Meal policy. More information is available here:
https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.

Named day
Named day questions only occur in the House of Commons. The MP tabling the question specifies the date on which they should receive an answer. MPs may not table more than five named day questions on a single day.