Time to rethink using free school meals as a proxy in education

With the new school year now in full swing, Mary van den Heuvel from NEU Cymru argues that the time has come to rethink how school meals are used as a proxy in education

A guaranteed free school meal for every child in Wales is what is needed, but whilst we fight for all children to receive a warm and healthy meal at lunchtime, we need to look seriously at the current eligibility criteria. The criteria hasn’t changed for a long time, and as the Bevan Foundation briefing last week raised, this has a real impact of families. 

I asked my mum recently why my brother and I didn’t get free school meals when I was a child. She said it never occurred to her to claim, although she is sure we would have been eligible. This does happen, in rural areas this can be because you don’t have a group of people who talk about their experiences. The roll out of Free School Meals (FSM) to all primary children will definitely help to ensure more children receive lunch, and help remove the associated stigma. Universal primary FSM is massively welcomed by our members, who talk about how children being hungry during school time detracts from their learning. In Wales in 2024, we cannot have children going hungry in school.

Whilst we are used to referring to ‘fiscal drag’ within the tax system (where the tax thresholds haven’t changed, dragging more people into a higher rate), inflation is meaning more (secondary) children could be missing out on free school meals. The briefing last week shows us that those on Universal Credit should be able to earn over £9,000 – not the household income of £7,400, if eligibility had risen in line with inflation. This is limiting children from getting the food they need.

There is another knock on to this too, and one which should make the government think hard. Whilst education fears further cuts, ahead of the upcoming budget announcements, we need to consider if FSM remains a valid proxy measure for children from more deprived backgrounds, if the threshold is set so low?

In Wales we rightly worry every year, that children with FSM are not doing as well in exams as their peers, or that they are more likely to be absent or excluded. But with eligibility for FSM not really moving over time, are these really a comparable cohort of children? And is it fair to keep telling schools they aren’t improving outcomes for these children, when they are likely a different cohort?

In many ways, although a different measure, the additional learning needs (ALN) system will struggle in the same way. As the system for deciding if a child has ALN have changed, and the number of children recorded as having received support has reduced, it is almost impossible to compare one group to the next.

There are other eligibility criteria which impact on people’s lives – the briefing last week included the School Essentials’ Grant and Education Maintenance Allowance and more. Additionally, it is baffling as to why eligible young people attending sixth forms get a free school meal, but those who go to FE college don’t. A legacy of undervaluing vocational qualifications and those who take them, perhaps?

So, the Welsh Government could really do everyone a favour with FSM – expand eligibility, and make sure more children receive a healthy lunch and the comparison is fairer from one year to the next.

Mary van den Heuvel is Senior Policy Officer at NEU Cymru