Suffrago UK Data Hub
RankingsVerificationMethods

Independent service run by Suffrago – not an official government website. Every figure comes from an official UK publisher under its open licence and is checked against that source each time the data is refreshed.

Pupils eligible for free school meals by council, England

The share of pupils in state-funded and non-maintained special schools who are eligible for free school meals in each of England's 153 upper-tier councils, with the regions and England, in the latest two academic years, from the January school census.

England

26.50%

2025/26

Verified against source, 1 November 2026, 12:19 UTC
Pupils eligible for free school meals by council, England
  • 2025/26
  • 2024/25
0%10%20%30%40%North East32.97%32.31%North West29.69%28.86%Yorkshire and The Humber28.62%27.76%East Midlands26.00%25.25%West Midlands31.94%30.88%East of England21.10%20.68%London29.15%27.86%South East21.11%20.56%South West21.54%20.98%

Source: Department for Education. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

In order

Ranked by the hub 2025/26

Every place, the highest figure first. The number before each is the hub's own position in the list, not the publisher's: equal figures share one, marked =.

  1. 1Manchester48.95%
  2. 2Islington47.81%
  3. 3Hackney47.56%
  4. 4Birmingham46.96%
  5. 5Camden46.13%
  6. 6Middlesbrough44.31%
  7. 7Westminster44.29%
  8. 8Wolverhampton44.23%
  9. 9Tower Hamlets43.56%
  10. 10Newcastle upon Tyne43.45%
  11. 11Blackpool43.08%
  12. 12Newham42.32%
  13. 13Knowsley41.70%
  14. =14Southwark41.27%
  15. =14Stoke-on-Trent41.27%
  16. 16Hartlepool40.48%
  17. 17Lambeth39.40%
  18. 18Halton39.01%
  19. 19Nottingham38.94%
  20. 20Southampton38.79%
  21. 21Sandwell37.69%
  22. 22Salford37.44%
  23. 23Walsall37.26%
  24. 24Portsmouth37.21%
  25. 25Derby36.44%
  26. 26Tameside36.29%
  27. 27Kensington and Chelsea36.09%
  28. 28Kingston upon Hull, City of36.00%
  29. 29Oldham35.56%
  30. 30Liverpool35.16%
  31. 31Sheffield, its area before 1 April 202535.11%
  32. 32Enfield34.69%
  33. 33North East Lincolnshire34.47%
  34. 34South Tyneside33.69%
  35. 35Redcar and Cleveland33.49%
  36. 36Rochdale33.46%
  37. 37Wandsworth33.38%
  38. 38County Durham33.07%
  39. 39Bradford32.85%
  40. 40Wirral32.78%
  41. 41Sunderland31.91%
  42. 42Greenwich31.80%
  43. 43Peterborough31.18%
  44. 44Bristol, City of31.04%
  45. 45Croydon30.51%
  46. 46Hammersmith and Fulham30.44%
  47. 47Derbyshire30.38%
  48. 48North Lincolnshire30.28%
  49. 49Rotherham30.08%
  50. 50Barnsley, its area before 1 April 202529.83%
  51. 51Doncaster29.73%
  52. 52Gateshead29.68%
  53. 53Wigan29.64%
  54. 54Ealing29.54%
  55. 55Lewisham29.46%
  56. 56Darlington29.11%
  57. 57Bolton29.10%
  58. 58Stockton-on-Tees28.98%
  59. 59Lincolnshire28.90%
  60. 60Leicester28.88%
  61. 61Coventry28.69%
  62. 62St. Helens28.26%
  63. 63Merton28.25%
  64. 64Haringey28.16%
  65. 65Leeds28.05%
  66. 66Telford and Wrekin28.04%
  67. 67Calderdale27.99%
  68. 68Dudley27.92%
  69. 69Luton27.74%
  70. 70Kirklees27.66%
  71. 71North Tyneside27.45%
  72. 72Blackburn with Darwen27.44%
  73. 73Sefton27.18%
  74. 74Torbay26.99%
  75. 75Wakefield26.80%
  76. 76Brighton and Hove26.61%
  77. 77Plymouth26.56%
  78. 78Barking and Dagenham26.54%
  79. 79Brent26.49%
  80. 80Waltham Forest26.33%
  81. 81Medway26.14%
  82. 82Solihull25.89%
  83. 83Isle of Wight25.86%
  84. 84Bury25.84%
  85. 85Kent25.63%
  86. 86Lancashire25.57%
  87. 87Milton Keynes25.43%
  88. 88East Sussex24.89%
  89. 89Northumberland24.19%
  90. 90Hounslow24.16%
  91. 91Hillingdon24.03%
  92. 92Warrington24.02%
  93. 93Nottinghamshire23.76%
  94. 94Norfolk23.74%
  95. 95Thurrock23.65%
  96. 96Cornwall23.50%
  97. 97Southend-on-Sea23.13%
  98. 98Redbridge22.97%
  99. 99Barnet22.90%
  100. 100Suffolk22.85%
  101. 101Bedford22.82%
  102. 102Stockport22.75%
  103. 103City of London22.71%
  104. 104Cambridgeshire22.41%
  105. 105Devon22.17%
  106. 106Warwickshire21.97%
  107. 107Slough21.94%
  108. =108Cumberland21.93%
  109. =108Reading21.93%
  110. 110Somerset21.33%
  111. 111Staffordshire21.26%
  112. 112East Riding of Yorkshire21.16%
  113. 113Hampshire20.96%
  114. 114North Northamptonshire20.93%
  115. 115Swindon20.84%
  116. 116Worcestershire20.82%
  117. 117Bexley20.43%
  118. 118Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole20.39%
  119. 119Essex20.38%
  120. 120Dorset20.34%
  121. 121Cheshire West and Chester20.29%
  122. 122Herefordshire, County of20.06%
  123. 123Havering20.04%
  124. 124Harrow19.95%
  125. 125Shropshire19.40%
  126. 126North Yorkshire19.14%
  127. 127Gloucestershire19.13%
  128. 128York18.44%
  129. 129West Northamptonshire17.70%
  130. 130Bath and North East Somerset17.64%
  131. 131Leicestershire17.60%
  132. 132Trafford17.44%
  133. 133Wiltshire17.42%
  134. 134South Gloucestershire17.28%
  135. 135Sutton17.14%
  136. 136Cheshire East17.12%
  137. 137North Somerset16.95%
  138. 138West Sussex16.41%
  139. 139Bromley16.19%
  140. 140Oxfordshire16.17%
  141. 141Buckinghamshire16.16%
  142. 142Hertfordshire15.97%
  143. 143Kingston upon Thames15.93%
  144. 144West Berkshire15.79%
  145. 145Westmorland and Furness15.67%
  146. 146Windsor and Maidenhead15.46%
  147. 147Surrey15.39%
  148. 148Central Bedfordshire15.07%
  149. 149Richmond upon Thames15.00%
  150. 150Bracknell Forest13.47%
  151. 151Rutland13.09%
  152. 152Wokingham10.30%
  153. 153Isles of Scilly3.70%

No figure published for Barnsley (given under its old code, E08000016), Sheffield (given under its old code, E08000019).

Data table

163 rows

Area2025/262024/25
Manchester E0800000348.95%47.24%
Islington E0900001947.81%45.78%
Hackney E0900001247.56%44.97%
Birmingham E0800002546.96%44.67%
Camden E0900000746.13%44.82%
Middlesbrough E0600000244.31%43.34%
Westminster E0900003344.29%42.06%
Wolverhampton E0800003144.23%41.97%
Tower Hamlets E0900003043.56%43.32%
Newcastle upon Tyne E0800002143.45%41.93%
Blackpool E0600000943.08%42.03%
Newham E0900002542.32%37.89%
Knowsley E0800001141.70%41.92%
Stoke-on-Trent E0600002141.27%39.88%
Southwark E0900002841.27%39.82%
Hartlepool E0600000140.48%39.02%
Lambeth E0900002239.40%38.62%
Halton E0600000639.01%39.16%
Nottingham E0600001838.94%37.95%
Southampton E0600004538.79%37.86%
Sandwell E0800002837.69%35.95%
Salford E0800000637.44%36.31%
Walsall E0800003037.26%35.98%
Portsmouth E0600004437.21%35.51%
Derby E0600001536.44%34.79%
Tameside E0800000836.29%35.07%
Kensington and Chelsea E0900002036.09%35.55%
Kingston upon Hull, City of E0600001036.00%34.69%
Oldham E0800000435.56%34.29%
Liverpool E0800001235.16%34.03%
Sheffield E08000019 its area before 1 April 202535.11%34.05%
Enfield E0900001034.69%33.06%
North East Lincolnshire E0600001234.47%33.80%
South Tyneside E0800002333.69%33.41%
Redcar and Cleveland E0600000333.49%33.00%
Rochdale E0800000533.46%32.93%
Wandsworth E0900003233.38%30.50%
County Durham E0600004733.07%32.71%
Bradford E0800003232.85%30.39%
Wirral E0800001532.78%31.60%
Sunderland E0800002431.91%30.85%
Greenwich E0900001131.80%30.38%
Peterborough E0600003131.18%30.51%
Bristol, City of E0600002331.04%30.16%
Croydon E0900000830.51%29.92%
Hammersmith and Fulham E0900001330.44%30.17%
Derbyshire E1000000730.38%29.14%
North Lincolnshire E0600001330.28%30.75%
Rotherham E0800001830.08%29.08%
Barnsley E08000016 its area before 1 April 202529.83%29.43%
Doncaster E0800001729.73%29.57%
Gateshead E0800003729.68%29.00%
Wigan E0800001029.64%28.91%
Ealing E0900000929.54%27.59%
Lewisham E0900002329.46%28.65%
Darlington E0600000529.11%28.57%
Bolton E0800000129.10%28.45%
Stockton-on-Tees E0600000428.98%28.79%
Lincolnshire E1000001928.90%28.02%
Leicester E0600001628.88%28.06%
Coventry E0800002628.69%27.96%
St. Helens E0800001328.26%28.30%
Merton E0900002428.25%26.38%
Haringey E0900001428.16%26.29%
Leeds E0800003528.05%27.11%
Telford and Wrekin E0600002028.04%27.76%
Calderdale E0800003327.99%27.12%
Dudley E0800002727.92%26.75%
Luton E0600003227.74%27.06%
Kirklees E0800003427.66%27.53%
North Tyneside E0800002227.45%27.21%
Blackburn with Darwen E0600000827.44%25.60%
Sefton E0800001427.18%26.67%
Torbay E0600002726.99%26.26%
Wakefield E0800003626.80%26.32%
Brighton and Hove E0600004326.61%26.29%
Plymouth E0600002626.56%26.52%
Barking and Dagenham E0900000226.54%26.73%
Brent E0900000526.49%24.30%
Waltham Forest E0900003126.33%25.56%
Medway E0600003526.14%25.49%
Solihull E0800002925.89%24.97%
Isle of Wight E0600004625.86%25.16%
Bury E0800000225.84%24.76%
Kent E1000001625.63%24.86%
Lancashire E1000001725.57%24.82%
Milton Keynes E0600004225.43%24.25%
East Sussex E1000001124.89%24.45%
Northumberland E0600005724.19%23.84%
Hounslow E0900001824.16%23.82%
Hillingdon E0900001724.03%22.80%
Warrington E0600000724.02%23.12%
Nottinghamshire E1000002423.76%22.96%
Norfolk E1000002023.74%23.45%
Thurrock E0600003423.65%23.09%
Cornwall E0600005223.50%23.12%
Southend-on-Sea E0600003323.13%22.88%
Redbridge E0900002622.97%20.10%
Barnet E0900000322.90%22.03%
Suffolk E1000002922.85%22.62%
Bedford E0600005522.82%21.85%
Stockport E0800000722.75%21.65%
City of London E0900000122.71%23.29%
Cambridgeshire E1000000322.41%22.04%
Devon E1000000822.17%20.63%
Warwickshire E1000003121.97%21.84%
Slough E0600003921.94%20.88%
Reading E0600003821.93%21.94%
Cumberland E0600006321.93%21.67%
Somerset E0600006621.33%21.24%
Staffordshire E1000002821.26%20.80%
East Riding of Yorkshire E0600001121.16%20.74%
Hampshire E1000001420.96%20.68%
North Northamptonshire E0600006120.93%20.90%
Swindon E0600003020.84%20.47%
Worcestershire E1000003420.82%20.54%
Bexley E0900000420.43%19.38%
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole E0600005820.39%20.01%
Essex E1000001220.38%20.08%
Dorset E0600005920.34%20.28%
Cheshire West and Chester E0600005020.29%20.17%
Herefordshire, County of E0600001920.06%19.71%
Havering E0900001620.04%19.93%
Harrow E0900001519.95%18.81%
Shropshire E0600005119.40%19.13%
North Yorkshire E0600006519.14%18.60%
Gloucestershire E1000001319.13%18.63%
York E0600001418.44%17.57%
West Northamptonshire E0600006217.70%17.35%
Bath and North East Somerset E0600002217.64%17.47%
Leicestershire E1000001817.60%17.21%
Trafford E0800000917.44%17.28%
Wiltshire E0600005417.42%17.10%
South Gloucestershire E0600002517.28%15.93%
Sutton E0900002917.14%16.37%
Cheshire East E0600004917.12%16.26%
North Somerset E0600002416.95%16.62%
West Sussex E1000003216.41%16.03%
Bromley E0900000616.19%16.21%
Oxfordshire E1000002516.17%16.12%
Buckinghamshire E0600006016.16%15.38%
Hertfordshire E1000001515.97%15.55%
Kingston upon Thames E0900002115.93%15.22%
West Berkshire E0600003715.79%15.55%
Westmorland and Furness E0600006415.67%15.32%
Windsor and Maidenhead E0600004015.46%14.87%
Surrey E1000003015.39%14.80%
Central Bedfordshire E0600005615.07%13.99%
Richmond upon Thames E0900002715.00%14.09%
Bracknell Forest E0600003613.47%12.86%
Rutland E0600001713.09%12.92%
Wokingham E0600004110.30%10.20%
Isles of Scilly E060000533.70%3.19%
Barnsley E08000038given for its area before 1 April 2025, under E08000016given for its area before 1 April 2025, under E08000016
Sheffield E08000039given for its area before 1 April 2025, under E08000019given for its area before 1 April 2025, under E08000019
North East32.97%32.31%
North West29.69%28.86%
Yorkshire and The Humber28.62%27.76%
East Midlands26.00%25.25%
West Midlands31.94%30.88%
East of England21.10%20.68%
London29.15%27.86%
South East21.11%20.56%
South West21.54%20.98%
England26.50%25.70%

Download CSVDownload JSON with full provenance

Map

2025/26 · 130 areas, each shaded by the fifth of the areas its figure falls in

  • 3.70% to 20.29%
  • 20.29% to 25.89%
  • 25.89% to 29.46%
  • 29.46% to 36.29%
  • 36.29% to 48.95%

Boundaries: Council boundaries, May 2026, from the geography spine. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Source and licence

Publisher
Department for Education
Check it yourself
https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics
Licence
Open Government Licence v3.0 – Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Retrieved
1 November 2026, 12:16 UTC
Raw files fetched

Verification

Verified against source, 1 November 2026, 12:19 UTC Run at 1 November 2026, 12:19 UTC; 326 of 326 figures matched the live source.

ResultCheckDetail
PassProvenance recordedDepartment for Education; Open Government Licence v3.0; retrieved 2026-11-01T12:16:29Z; 1 raw file(s)
PassRaw files match recorded SHA-2561 of 1 files intact
PassRe-parsing raw files reproduces figures326 of 326 figures and the headline reproduced
PassFigures are finite numbers326 figures, 0 invalid
PassLive source matches every figure326 of 326 figures match exactly after downloading 1 source file(s) again (1 byte-identical); the headline matches
PassEES data set is currentlatest period 2025/26 ended 62 days before retrieval (limit 500)
PassThe councils add up to their regionin 18 of 18 cases the councils' pupils eligible for free school meals sum to the whole within 0 (18 exactly)
PassThe regions add up to Englandin 2 of 2 cases the regions' pupils eligible for free school meals sum to the whole within 0 (2 exactly)
PassThe hub's fsm-eligibility-region agrees9 of 9 figures match fsm-eligibility-region's record (the CSV's regions, to the two places the hub stores them to)
PassSource page answershttps://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics – HTTP 200

Notes

  • Pupils of every age in state-funded and non-maintained special schools counted in the January census, by the council area their school is in; the DfE's free school meals figures leave out independent schools. The DfE gives these figures for England's unitary councils and its counties, which run schools, not for districts.
  • The DfE's file still gives Barnsley and Sheffield under the codes they had before part of Barnsley moved into Sheffield on the 1st of April 2025 (E08000016 and E08000019), and they are shown so.