66.8% of pupils took school meals, both free and paid

Date published: 05 June 2025

New official statistics published today by NISRA statisticians in the Department of Education present information on results of the annual data collection relating to the uptake of school meals in grant-aided schools in Northern Ireland in 2024/25.

Key findings:

• 209,927 school meals, both free and paid, were taken by pupils on the school meals uptake reference date1, which equates to a school meals uptake level of 66.8% by pupils present for lunch on the day.
• The school meals uptake level for 2024/25 is 4.5 percentage points higher than for 2022/23 (there was no data collected on uptake for 2023/24).
• The overall percentage of children entitled to free school meals is 26.2%, a slight decrease compared to the 2023/24 (27.2%). This 26.2% equates to 90,935 free school meal entitled pupils in nursery, primary/preparatory, post-primary, and special schools.
• The uptake level for free school meals by entitled pupils is 80.8%; this is 1.6 percentage points higher than for 22/23 (79.2%).

About the publication

This publication provides statistical information on results of the latest annual data collection relating to the uptake of school meals in Northern Ireland grant-aided schools. It details update of meals, free and paid, by school type as well as entitlement to free school meals by school type.

Further information

Read the full report and associated tables at: School Meals in Northern Ireland 2024/25