Data is not routinely collected by the GLA on the take-up of meals offered through the London scheme. This decision was taken because it was felt to be too great an additional burden for schools in the context of a rapid roll out.
Instead, GLA have sought to understand levels of take-up through a number of different sources. This has included work with the management information systems (MIS) provider Arbor, insights gathered through discussions with boroughs and where schools have claimed funding over the initial 90% allocations. These sources have shown a range of uptake levels, from around 58% up to 100%.
Arbor provides Management Information Systems (MIS) to over 6,000 schools across the country. They kindly offered to provide data from the schools they support in London, so that the GLA can gain a picture of what Universal Primary Free School Meals (UFSM) ‘uptake’ levels are, and how it may differ for different groups of pupils and areas.
This document outlines the GLA City Intelligence Unit's analysis of the Arbor data sample for the Academic Year 2023/24 including uptake and trends by:
- Academic Term
- Year group
- Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) status
- Ethnicity
- Religion