Data set from Outcomes for children in need, including children looked after by local authorities in England

National - Free school meals (FSM)

Latest data

Published 2 April 2026

Last updated 2 April 2026

Free school meal eligibility of children in need by social care group.

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Data set details

• Theme: Children's social care
• Publication: Outcomes for children in need, including children looked after by local authorities in England
• Release: Reporting year 2025
• Number of rows: 51
• Geographic levels: National
• Indicators:
  • Number of pupils
  • Number of pupils with free school meal eligibility
  • Percentage of pupils with free school meal eligibility
• Filters:
  • Social care group
• Time period: 2018/19 to 2024/25

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Data set preview

Table showing first 5 rows, from underlying data

time_period	time_identifier	geographic_level	country_code	country_name	social_care_group	t_pupils	t_FSM_eligible	pt_FSM_eligible
202425	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	All pupils comparison	8449210	2171740	25.7
202425	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	CIN at 31 March	222890	140170	62.9
202425	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	CINO at 31 March	141630	87330	61.7
202425	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	CPPO at 31 March	30700	23950	78
202425	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	CIN at any point	387500	245360	63.3

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Variables in this data set

Table showing all 4 variables

Variable name	Variable description
pt_FSM_eligible	Percentage of pupils with free school meal eligibility
social_care_group	Social care group - Filter by social care group
t_FSM_eligible	Number of pupils with free school meal eligibility
t_pupils	Number of pupils

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Footnotes

1. Free school meal (FSM) eligibility is taken from both the school census and the alternative provision census. More detailed information on the FSM data published within this release is available in the accompanying methodology.

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Contact us

If you have a specific enquiry about National - Free school meals (FSM) statistics and data:

Children Looked After Data Team

Email: CLA.STATS@education.gov.uk
Contact name: Bree Waine

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