School Healthy Living Survey statistics 2022

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 was conducted in the week beginning 21 February 2022.

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. This was extended again to include primary 4 in August 2021 and further extended to include primary 5 from January 2022.^[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 since the 2018 pupil census 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 number 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. All pupils in P1-P5 are eligible for free school meals from January 2022.

Note: no school meals data was collected in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2022, 51.9 per cent of the total school roll was registered for free school meals. This is substantially higher than the 38.1 per cent registered in 2020. 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 extension of national universal provision of FSM up to include P4 and P5 pupils in 2022^[2], 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.

The percentage of pupils present on the survey day who took a meal (free or paid for) supplied by the school decreased from 53.3 per cent in 2020 to 49.9 per cent in 2022. This decrease was driven by a reduction in the percentage of secondary and special school pupils present and taking a meal. Although the overall percentage of pupils in primary school that were present and took a meal increased slightly, the proportion present and taking a meal decreased in universally entitled stages (P1-P3 in 2020, P1-P5 in 2022) and also in the non-universally entitled stages (P4-P7 in 2020 and P6 and P7 in 2022).

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.

a. 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.

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

c. Figures for 2018-2022 exclude Jordanhill. See section 3.3 background notes for this publication for further details.

d. The Scottish Government extended free school meals eligibility to all P4 pupils in August 2021 and to all P5 pupils in January 2022.

a. 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.

b. In August 2018, Glasgow City Council introduced a local initiative extending free school meals to all P4 pupils. c. Figures for 2018-2022 exclude Jordanhill. See section 3.3 background notes for this publication for further details. d. The Scottish Government extended free school meals eligibility to all P4 pupils in August 2021 and to all P5 pupils in January 2022.