School meal uptake: 2023-24

Free school meal uptake

The uptake rate of free school meals represents the average proportion of free school meal registered pupils in attendance at school that take a school meal over the financial year. The overall uptake rate for free school meals across all sectors was 67.7% in 2023-24, meaning an average of 67.7% of pupils registered for free school meals took a meal each school day over the course of the financial year. The uptake rate of free meals was up from 64.3% in 2022-23 and 62.1% in 2021-22. The largest increase between 2022-23 and 2023-24 was in primary schools (66.4% to 70.4%), with a smaller increase in secondary schools (50.3% to 51.9%). However, the uptake rate in special schools decreased from 67.3% in 2022-23 to 63.8% in 2023-24.

Statistics on free school meal uptake using the new methodology haven’t been produced prior to 2021-22 as the required data on attendance for free school meal pupils was not available. However, statistics from the Healthy Living Survey series show that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic there was a long-term general decline in uptake of free school meals in primary and secondary schools. Furthermore, there was a pronounced decrease in meal uptake in all sectors in the 2022 Healthy Living Survey which likely reflected changes in habits because of the pandemic. However, the statistics presented here for recent years shown signs of a reversal of this decline in primary and secondary.

Figure 1 Free school meal uptake continued to increase in primary and secondary schools between 2022-23 and 2023-24 but decreased in special schools

Percentage uptake of free school meals, Scotland, 2021-22 to 2023-24

Figure 2 Uptake estimates for free school meals, Scotland 2021-22 to 2023-24

Table of free school meal uptake by sector, used in Figure 1 above.

All school meal uptake (free and paid for)

The uptake rate of all school meals represents the average proportion of pupils in attendance at school that take a school meal (free and paid for) over the financial year. The overall uptake rate for all school meals (free and paid for) across all sectors was 50.8% in 2023-24, meaning an average of 50.8% of pupils attending school took a meal each school day over the course of the financial year. The uptake rate for all meals was up from 47.0% in 2022-23 and marks a return to pre-pandemic levels. The largest increase over the year was in secondary schools (31.8% to 36.7%), with a smaller increase in primary schools (58.2% to 61.5%).

Figure 3 Uptake of school meals (free and paid for) continued to increase from 2022-23 to 2023-24 in primary and secondary schools but decreased in special schools

Percentage uptake of school meals (free and paid for), Scotland, 2017-18 to 2023-24 [note 1]

Note 1: Estimates have not been calculated for 2020-21 due to the effects of COVID-19 on school meals and attendance.

Figure 4 Uptake estimates for all school meals (free and paid for), Scotland 2017-18 to 2023-24 [note 1]

Table of all school meal uptake (free and paid for) by sector, used in Figure 3 above.

Note 1: Estimates have not been calculated for 2020-21 due to the effects of COVID-19 on school meals and attendance.