School Healthy Living Survey statistics: 2020

Chapter 1: School meals

Background

In 2012, a new Healthy Living Survey (HLS) was introduced which incorporated the old school meals survey and new questions on Physical Education. This is an annual survey, normally collected in February each year, from all publicly funded schools in Scotland. The school meal part of this survey collects information on the uptake of meals, both free and paid for, and registration for free school meals. Only meals taken at lunchtime are included, breakfast clubs are not included. The survey reported on here was conducted in the week beginning 17 February 2020.

Information on levels of free school meal registration and school meal uptake is used to monitor the impact of Scottish Government policies on reducing deprivation and promoting healthy eating, and has been used to distribute funding to local authorities. In January 2015, the Government extended free school meal eligibility to include all children in primary 1-3.^[1]

Other sources of data on school meals

Registrations for free school meals are collected as part of the school Pupil Census undertaken in September of each year. This data has been quality assured and published for both the 2018 and 2019 pupil censuses and should now be considered the primary source of data on free school meal registrations. National and local authority level data is available in the pupil census supplementary tables. School level data is available in the school level summary statistics. Details on comparability between the healthy living survey and pupil census free school meals data is included in the background notes.

Data on the number of free and paid for school meals taken over a financial year is collected by the Scottish Government as part of a collection of finance data from local authorities. The data is released as background data for the local government finance statistics in the education data workbook LFR01.

Free school meals as a measure of deprivation

As the national criteria for free school meal eligibility is largely based on the receipt of benefits, statistics on free school meal registrations from the Healthy Living Survey have been used as a measure of deprivation. However, several factors need to be taken into account when using the statistics in this way, particularly for primary and special schools where a substantial proportion of those registered qualify through non-benefits based criteria. See background notes for more information on the use of these statistics as a measure of deprivation.

An alternative to using the percentage of pupils registered for free school meals as a measure of deprivation, are statistics on the percentage of pupils in each school who live in the 20 per cent most deprived data zones in Scotland, available in the school level summary statistics. SIMD is the Scottish Government's primary measure of deprivation in relation to educational attainment and performance.

Key Findings

(a) In August 2018, Glasgow City Council introduced a local initiative extending free school meals to all P4 pupils

In 2020, 38.1 per cent of the total school roll was registered for free school meals. This is slightly higher than the 38.0 per cent registered in 2019. Free school meal registration rates are affected by the economic circumstances of pupils and their parents, and also changes to the eligibility criteria. The most influential changes to eligibility criteria since 2015 have been the increased proportion of special schools reporting 100% registration due to their universal provision of FSM and the introduction of universal eligibility to all P4 pupils in Glasgow City in August 2018.^[2]

The percentage of pupils present on the survey day who took a meal (free or paid for) supplied by the school decreased from 54.5 per cent in 2019 to 53.3 per cent in 2020. This drop was partly driven by a decrease in the percentage of P1-P3 pupils present on survey day who took a free meal supplied by the school, decreasing from 79.0 per cent in 2019 to 75.7 per cent in 2020.

Additional data

School meals data by local authority, Urban Rural classification and size of school are available in the supplementary tables. School level information on school meals is also available.

Table 1a: Number and percentage of pupils taking school meals (free or paid for) and registered for and taking free school meals by sector, 2015 to 2020

	Number
	2015a,b	2016	2017	2018c,e	2019d,e	2020d,e
Pupils registered for free meals
Primary	213,199	212,175	212,235	210,906	214,353	213,863
Secondary	41,744	39,280	38,841	39,511	41,881	44,502
Special	4,498	3,681	4,155	4,506	4,608	5,281
Total	259,441	255,136	255,231	254,923	260,842	263,646
Pupils registered and present taking free meals
Primary	162,799	166,454	165,027	160,323	160,539	155,258
Secondary	26,264	24,811	23,911	23,937	24,287	25,217
Special	3,607	2,899	3,418	3,466	3,448	4,131
Total	192,670	194,164	192,356	187,726	188,274	184,606
Pupils present and taking meals (free or paid for)
Primary	237,404	246,821	246,162	237,315	230,271	222,005
Secondary	111,562	114,586	110,288	110,364	112,722	112,816
Special	4,875	4,511	4,375	4,663	4,371	5,005
Total	353,841	365,918	360,825	352,342	347,364	339,826

	Percentage
	2015a,b	2016	2017	2018c,e	2019d,e	2020d,e
Pupils registered for free meals
Primary	55.3	54.1	53.4	52.7	53.5	53.6
Secondary	15.0	14.2	14.1	14.4	15.0	15.6
Special	63.0	55.7	66.2	66.1	66.9	73.7
Total	38.7	37.8	37.6	37.4	38.0	38.1
Pupils registered and present taking free meals
Primary	80.5	82.7	82.1	80.5	79.2	76.9
Secondary	76.4	73.9	73.4	72.8	70.9	70.9
Special	90.3	89.8	91.3	87.1	85.1	86.8
Total	80.1	81.5	81.0	79.6	78.1	76.2
Pupils present and taking meals (free or paid for)
Primary	64.6	66.0	65.0	62.4	60.4	58.6
Secondary	44.2	45.8	44.3	44.6	45.2	44.6
Special	78.0	77.7	78.0	77.8	72.4	77.4
Total	56.5	58.1	56.9	55.6	54.5	53.3

a. On 5 January 2015, the Scottish Government launched the extension of free school meals eligibility to include all children in P1-P3.

b. Figures on percentage uptake that were originally published were corrected in June 2016. See section 3.3 background notes for this publication for further details.

c. In August 2019, the 2018 figures for Edinburgh and North Lanarkshire were corrected. PE data was not affected. See section 3.3 background notes for this publication for further details.

d. In August 2018, Glasgow City Council introduced a local initiative extending free school meals to all P4 pupils.

e. Figures for 2018, 2019 and 2020 exclude Jordanhill. See section 3.3 background notes for this publication for further details.

Table 1b: Primary pupils taking school meals (free or paid for) and registered for and taking free school meals by sector, 2015 to 2020

	Number
	2015a,b	2016	2017	2018c,e	2019d,e	2020d,e
Pupils registered for free meals
P1-P3	172,284	172,912	173,020	172,163	169,931	167,838
P4-P7	40,915	39,263	39,215	38,743	44,422	46,025
Total Primary (P1-P7)	213,199	212,175	212,235	210,906	214,353	213,863
Pupils registered and present taking free meals
P1-P3	129,674	134,667	134,042	130,201	127,888	120,977
P4-P7	33,125	31,787	30,985	30,122	32,651	34,381
Total Primary (P1-P7)	162,799	166,454	165,027	160,323	160,539	155,358
Pupils present and taking meals (free or paid for)
P1-P3	129,674	134,667	134,042	130,201	127,888	120,977
P4-P7	107,730	112,154	112,120	107,114	102,383	101,128
Total Primary (P1-P7)	237,404	246,821	246,162	237,315	230,271	222,105

	Percentage
	2015a,b	2016	2017	2018c,e	2019d,e	2020d,e
Pupils registered for free meals
P1-P3	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
P4-P7	19.2	17.9	17.5	17.0	19.3	19.9
Total Primary (P1-P7)	55.3	54.1	53.4	52.7	53.5	53.6
Pupils registered and present taking free meals
P1-P3	78.9	81.7	81.2	79.6	79.0	75.7
P4-P7	87.5	87.3	86.2	84.9	79.9	81.4
Total Primary (P1-P7)	80.5	82.7	82.1	80.5	79.2	76.9
Pupils present and taking meals (free or paid for)
P1-P3	78.9	81.7	81.2	79.6	79.0	75.7
P4-P7	53.1	53.7	52.4	49.5	46.7	46.2
Total Primary (P1-P7)	64.6	66.0	65.0	62.4	60.4	58.6

a. On 5 January 2015, the Scottish Government launched the extension of free school meals eligibility to include all children in primary 1-3.

b. Figures on percentage uptake that were originally published were corrected in June 2016. See section 3.3 background notes for this publication for further details.

c. In August 2019, the 2018 figures for Edinburgh and North Lanarkshire were corrected. PE data was not affected. See section 3.3 background notes for this publication for further details.

d. In August 2018, Glasgow City Council introduced a local initiative extending free school meals to all P4 pupils.

e. Figures for 2018, 2019 and 2020 exclude Jordanhill. See section 3.3 background notes for this publication for further details.