Nursery World - Thousands of nursery children in poverty could be missing out on free school meals

Thousands of nursery children that are eligible for free school meals could be missing out on the benefit, according to an analysis by the Education Policy Institute.

There has been a rise in the number of nursery-age children that are eligible for free school meals PHOTO Adobe Stock

Data from a freedom of information request on Free School Meals' (FSM) eligibility in the maintained sector made by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) to the Department for Education shows that a growing number of nursery children are eligible for free school meals (FSM), up from 5 per cent in 2017 to 8 per cent in 2021.

The new data covers all maintained sector nurseries - both standalone maintained nurseries and those attached to schools.

Unlike FSM for school-aged children, statistics on nursery FSM eligibility are not publicly available.

Children in private, voluntary and independent settings are not eligible for free school meals.

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