Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) number and (b) proportion of children in those grammar schools that were successful in the first round of the selective school expansion fund are on free school meals.

The attached table sets out the number and proportion of children on free school meals in the 16 grammar schools that were successful in the first round of the Selective School Expansion Fund (SSEF).

As a minimum requirement of the SSEF, schools were required to give second priority to pupil premium children in their oversubscription criteria. First priority in all schools must go to the admission of looked after and previously looked after children.

The Department wants to see more pupils from lower income backgrounds applying to, passing the test for, and being admitted to selective schools. This is why all schools applying to the SSEF were required to commit to taking steps to support these aims. All successful schools set out in their Fair Access and Partnership Plans methods by which they would increase access for disadvantaged children.