Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children in secondary schools in Barnsley eligible for free school meals went on to higher education in each year since 2010.

The department does not publish the number of children eligible for free school meals (FSM) entering higher education at a local authority level.

The department publishes information at a local authority level on the proportion of students who entered higher education by age 19 who were eligible for FSM at age 15 in state-funded and special schools.

The attached table shows the estimated percentage of pupils from state-funded and special schools with free school meal status that entered higher education by age 19 for Barnsley. The percentage has increased from 4% in 2005/06 to 10% in 2016/17.