📢 Today, the Education Policy Institute (EPI), funded by @nuffieldfoundation.org published a new report exploring the strengths & weaknesses of Free School Meals (FSM) and Pupil Premium (PP) as measures for identifying disadvantaged pupils in England.
Read full report👇
https://epi.org.uk/publications-and-research/who-has-been-registered-for-free-school-meals-and-pupil-premium-in-the-national-pupil-database/
Read full report👇
https://epi.org.uk/publications-and-research/who-has-been-registered-for-free-school-meals-and-pupil-premium-in-the-national-pupil-database/
Comments
▶️Under-registration
▶️Low-income thresholds
▶️ Rules ignoring housing costs & family size
This is worse for younger children & in more deprived areas
👉The % of White British non-PP secondary pupils fell from 80% (2012) to 66% (2023).
👉 FSM/PP status alone does not fully capture disadvantage.
✅ Expanding FSM eligibility & raising income thresholds
✅Auto-enrolling eligible children for FSM
✅ Considering periods missing education, local area, ethnicity & language background alongside FSM/PP in research and policy uses