Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of students enrolled at (a) sixth form colleges and (b) school and academy sixth forms in December 2016 were eligible for free school meals at the age of 15.

Eleven per cent of academic aged 16-18 year olds who studied their highest qualification in 2014/15 at a sixth form college, were eligible for free school meals at academic age 15. The equivalent figure for school and academy sixth forms was ten per cent. Data for December 2016 is unavailable.

Note: This proportion is based on those where the FSM status at 15 is known.

Source: Department for Education’s Young Person’s Matched Administrative Dataset.