PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(12 March 2026)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of, a) pupils recorded as young carers and, b) pupils not recorded as young carers were eligible for Free School Meals in the January school census returns for 2023 to 2025.

Asked by:
Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat)

The department holds data on young carers and pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM), which is published in the ‘Schools, pupils and characteristics’ publication. The most recent version was published in June 2025 and the next is scheduled for summer 2026.

Below is a table showing the proportion of pupils who are identified as young carers and known to be eligible for FSM, and the proportion of pupils who are not identified as young carers but are known to be eligible for FSM.

Year	Proportion of young carers known to be eligible for free schools meals (%)	Proportion of pupils not recorded as a young carer but known to be eligible for free school meals (%)
2024/25	56.90	25.50
2023/24	56.80	24.40
2022/23	56.40	23.70

Answered by:
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