Free school meals for primary 1-3 pupils

All school pupils in Primary 1-3 are to be entitled to free school meals following successful pilot schemes.

Plans for a national rollout were announced today (Thursday 2 October) by Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop and Children and Early Years Minister Adam Ingram during a visit to the Oakley campus in Dunfermline, Fife, which combines Holy Name RC Primary School and Inzievar Primary School.

Pilot schemes ran across five local authorities (Fife, East Ayrshire, Glasgow City, West Dunbartonshire and Scottish Borders) involving 35,000 children between October 2007 and June 2008.

Uptake of meals among P1s to P3s rose from 53% to 75%. Within the target group of P1-P3 pupils not registered for free school meals, uptake increased from 41% to 69%.

Scottish Government News Release:Free School Meals

Scottish Government publication:Evaluation of the Free School Meals Trial for P1 to P3 Pupils 

Scottish Government publication:Education and Lifelong Learning: Research Findings No.40/2008: Evaluation of the Free School Meal Trial for P1 to P3 Pupils

The Scotsman article:Thousands of extra pupils to get free - and healthy - school meals

BBC News article: Free meal plan for Scots pupils