This report by the Education Policy Institute reviews and discusses the existing evidence on the evolution of the Free School Meals (FSM) measure, over the past two decades, and on its uses, including in Pupil Premium (PP). The report also explores the strengths and weaknesses of FSM and PP as measures for identifying disadvantaged pupils in research and policymaking.
The report is part of a wider project, funded by the Nuffield Foundation: ‘What has “Free School Meals” measured, and what are the implications?’ The project aims to examine accurately the experiences of different groups of children within the education system: particularly those from disadvantaged and/or marginalised groups.
The review indicates that, over time, the procedures for identifying children as ‘Free School Meal-eligible’ have increasingly dissociated from practices and decisions in terms of providing actual Free School Meals. Furthermore, children registered for FSM receive very different support and interventions depending on the area in which they live.
It also suggests a number of strengths and weaknesses of FSM as a measure, and nuances in the ways that it can be used more or less robustly in research and policymaking. Using the FSM measure to make predictions and set expectations for individual pupils results in inaccurate information for some, because it averages over large differences within the FSM-registered group (and within the non-FSM-registered group). This can result in misallocation, bias, and stereotyping.
FSM is often assumed to be an individual-level measure, but, in fact, propensity to be registered as FSM-eligible depends to some extent on structural, compositional, and cultural factors at the group and local level – lending a lack of clarity to what FSM means and represents.