Academic Achievement and Entitlement to Free School Meals, 2011

Statistics on Academic Achievement and Entitlement to Free School Meals include data for Wales for the period up to 2011.  The latest release updates the statistics previously released on 16 March 2011.  Data for KS4 in 2010 have been revised.

The bulletin includes analysis of performance at each key stage of pupils eligible and not eligible for free school meals.

The key points from this bulletin are:

• The performance of pupils eligible for free school meals is lower than their non eligible counterparts at all key stages and in all performance measures;
• Looking at the core subject indicator (see definitions), the gap in performance has narrowed over the last six years at Key Stages 1, 2 and 3.  However at Key Stage 4, the gap in performance in the Level 2 threshold including a GCSE A*-C in English/Welsh and maths has widened;
• The gap in performance increases as pupils get older;
• There is a strong link between achievement and the level of entitlement to free school meals: as the level of FSM entitlement increases, the level of achievement decreases.

Contact

Tel: 029 2082 5514
E-mail: school.stats@wales.gsi.gov.uk

Next update

March 2013 (provisional - to be confirmed on the 'Due Out Soon' page)