Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils in (a) St Helens and (b) Merseyside are eligible for free school meals; and what the national average is.

The number of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) in each local authority in Merseyside, and the national total, are published at the following link: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/3786b748-23e3-4fad-9e99-08dabce49219.

Figures published in June 2022 show that, in total, there were 63,273 pupils in Merseyside eligible for FSM, which equates to 29.2% of all pupils.

In St Helens, one of the five local authorities within Merseyside, 6,877 pupils were eligible for FSM, which equates to 25.2%.

Across England 22.5% of pupils were eligible for FSM.