Written Question·Department for Education·UIN 17467

Free School Meals

Tabled: 9 July 2026

Answered: 4 August 2026

Question

Steve Darling

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate they have made of the number of children eligible for free school meals who are not registered to receive them.

Answer

Paul Waugh

The department only collects data on pupils who are both eligible for and claiming free school meals. Children not claiming free school meals could be eligible or ineligible to claim them. As a result, no recent estimate has been made of the number of chi...

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