Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students aged 16 to 19 are eligible for (a) free school meals and (b) free meals in further education.

The department does not publish data on the total number of pupils eligible for free meals in further education. Data is only published from those institutions who provide census returns including state-funded secondary schools, special schools, pupil referral units and local authority alternative provision.

The published data shows the total number of students aged 16 to 19 who were eligible for and claiming free school meals in January 2018 is 32,215.

A more detailed breakdown is available in the national tables document of the 'Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2018' statistical release here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2018.