How many children get free school meals?

The number and share of pupils eligible for free school meals is published each June in the Department for Education's "Schools, pupils and their characteristics" release, by school and local authority.

Eligibility is not the same as take-up. Universal infant free school meals, given to all children in reception to year 2, are counted separately.

Official sources: Schools, pupils and their characteristics

The latest figure

The newest value is at Department for Education (DfE). More on it: Pupils in schools in England.

When is the next figure out?

Annual, usually early June, from the January school census (4 June 2026 for 2025/26). The DfE public statistics API needs a POST query with the national 'Total' filter options; it is not an ONS time series, so the site cannot read it automatically

Every official release due in the next two weeks is on the release calendar.

Terms used in this answer

• Disadvantage gap
  The difference in attainment between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils. In England it is published as the disadvantage gap index.
• Pupil premium
  Extra funding for state schools in England for each disadvantaged pupil, such as those eligible for free school meals in the past six years or who are looked after.
• Headcount
  A count of individual people, each counted once regardless of how many hours they work or how many posts they hold.
• Administrative data
  Information collected by organisations while running a service, such as tax records, benefit claims or hospital activity, and then used to produce statistics.
• Forecast and projection
  A forecast is a best estimate of what will happen. A projection shows what would happen if stated assumptions hold, without claiming they will.

Where the figures come from

• Higher education and student finance statistics (HESA, Student Loans Company, Office for Students and DfE)
  Official figures on UK student numbers, international students, student loan debt, graduate earnings, university finances and apprenticeships.
• Explore education statistics (Department for Education)
  How to use DfE's Explore Education Statistics for pupil numbers, free school meals, teachers, GCSE and SATs results, exclusions, attendance and the API.

Related questions

• How many pupils are in schools in England?
• Where can I find official GCSE results statistics?
• How many teachers are there in England?

This answer says where the official figures are published and how they are defined. It gives no verdict on any claim. To report an error, send a correction request. More questions about schools and education: all Schools and education questions.