Tower Hamlets Bridges GCSE Gap with Free School Meals

Tower Hamlets has emerged as the leading borough in London for shrinking the GCSE achievement gap between disadvantaged students and their peers, a success attributed to its pioneering implementation of universal Free School Meals (FSM) in secondary schools, Daily Dazzling Dawn understand.

Data from the Department for Education consistently reveals a significant disparity in attainment between students eligible for FSM and their non-eligible counterparts across the UK. Eligibility for FSM is typically based on parents receiving universal credit with an income below £7,400 (excluding benefits).

In a groundbreaking move, Tower Hamlets became the first and remains the only borough in London to extend universal FSM to all state secondary school students up to the age of 16 in September 2023. This builds upon their existing policy of providing universal FSM in primary schools since 2014, a strategy that has been effective in reducing the social stigma often associated with claiming free meals as a sign of poverty.

GCSE performance is measured using the Attainment 8 score, which reflects the average academic performance of a secondary school based on achievement in eight government-approved subjects. In 2024, FSM-eligible students in Tower Hamlets were on average only six percent behind their peers in Attainment 8 scores. This starkly contrasts with the London-wide average achievement gap of 31 percent between these two groups.

Sam Lazenby, a governor at St Paul’s Primary in Southwark, a borough that also implemented universal primary FSM, highlighted the positive impact. “Universal FSM removes stigma, as parents aren’t concerned about the shame that can come with having to claim the help.” He noted that feedback from children at St Paul’s has been overwhelmingly positive, with students reporting feeling healthier, more focused, and enjoying their meals.

Pandora Molteno, a teacher at Millbrook Park primary school, echoed this sentiment, stating, “I think that sometimes parents can be reluctant to ask for help or accept the help, even when they’re entitled to it.” She emphasized the crucial role of nutritious meals in academic performance and concentration, questioning why FSM provision isn't extended to secondary school students nationwide. “It doesn’t really make sense to offer it to children until they’re 11 and then take it away from them.”

The Tower Hamlets universal secondary FSM scheme involved a £772,000 investment in new school kitchen equipment. By September 2024, an impressive one million additional meals had been served to secondary students in the borough.

The success in Tower Hamlets stands in stark contrast to boroughs like Sutton, which, despite consistently high overall academic scores, exhibits one of the widest achievement gaps between FSM and non-FSM students. In 2024, non-FSM students in Sutton achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 63, while FSM students scored just 42 – a significant 21-point gap, underscoring educational inequality even in high-performing areas. Tower Hamlets, in comparison, has consistently maintained an attainment gap below the London average, and the introduction of universal secondary FSM has further reduced this difference from 9.3% in 2023 to just 6% in the 2024 GCSE results.

The provision of universal FSM to all primary school students in London since September 2023, a measure introduced to alleviate the financial pressures of the cost-of-living crisis, currently benefits approximately 270,000 children and saves families around £440 per child annually.

Research conducted by Essex University in February 2024 examined the impact of universal primary FSM in early adopter boroughs like Tower Hamlets, Southwark, Newham, and Islington. The findings revealed a 7% reduction in child obesity rates among reception-year pupils and reading score improvements equivalent to an extra two weeks of schooling by year six. The study also indicated an 8% increase in FSM uptake due to the removal of associated stigma.

Governor Sam Lazenby concluded, “FSM are an unbelievably effective way for both local government and also central government to spend their money. The impacts of FSM on educational outcomes will, in the long term pay for itself, because growth in attainment means these students will contribute to society and the economy and not fall through the cracks in a way that’s both socially detrimental and really expensive in the long term. We should be looking at the positive data that’s coming through and try to roll this out everywhere.”