Commenting on an Education Policy Institute report which argues that the Free School Meals system needs a rethink, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
"We know that measuring entitlement to free school meals does not accurately capture which children are growing up in poverty. Too many children fall through the cracks, as eligibility criteria have excluded many and registration processes create barriers to access. This has the knock-on effect of preventing schools from unlocking the funding they need to support their pupils.
"The government’s welcome expansion of free school meal eligibility provides a timely opportunity to revise how disadvantage is measured. We support the EPI’s calls, including for centralised automatic enrolment and improved early years provision. Of course, many of these issues would be resolved by introducing universal free school meals, making sure no child is left behind."