# Children on free school meals

> Eligible pupils, published denominators and rates across every London local authority.

- Category: People
- Cadence: annual
- Status: Published on a annual cadence.
- Dataset key: `children-on-free-school-meals`
- Source: [Department for Education](https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics)
- Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 — [terms](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/)
- Canonical page: [https://londongraph.com/g/children-on-free-school-meals](https://londongraph.com/g/children-on-free-school-meals)
- Machine-readable record: [https://londongraph.com/data/children-on-free-school-meals](https://londongraph.com/data/children-on-free-school-meals)

## Methodology

Latest Department for Education Schools, pupils and their characteristics local-authority data. The map uses the FSM-eligible percentage for all included state-funded phases; the exact pupil count and published all-pupil denominator remain visible. Eligibility is an administrative measure shaped by benefit rules and protections, not a complete measure of child poverty.

## Visualisations

- [Eligibility map](https://londongraph.com/g/children-on-free-school-meals): Compare the published eligibility rate while retaining exact pupils and denominators.
- [Distribution](https://londongraph.com/g/children-on-free-school-meals?view=distribution): Place borough eligibility rates around the London median and quartiles.
- [Borough detail](https://londongraph.com/g/children-on-free-school-meals?view=borough-detail): Inspect eligibility, pupil count and denominator for a selected authority. Caveat: Eligibility is an administrative measure, not a complete child-poverty estimate.

## Citation guidance

Attribute the original publisher named above and identify LondonGraph as the visualisation and methodology layer. Do not describe live values as a historical census, and do not present placeholder values as observations.