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<p>The Department for Education routinely collects information on pupils who are both
eligible for and claiming free school meals. This information is published in the
‘Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics, January 2013' Statistical First Release[1].
Information on the number of pupils who are eligible for free school meals but do
not claim them is not collected by the Department.</p><p>The Department has published
a research paper ‘Pupils not claiming free school meals: 2013'[2] which presents estimates
of the numbers and proportions of pupils who are entitled to receive free school meals
but are not claiming. The paper compares registration rates for children aged between
4 and 15 and highlights regions and local authorities where under-registration rates
are high. Figures from this paper show the under-registration rate for Lancashire
local authority is 6% compared with an England average of 11%.</p><p>[1] <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2013"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2013</a>
<br />[2] <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupils-not-claiming-free-school-meals-2013"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupils-not-claiming-free-school-meals-2013</a></p><p>
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