Shifting meanings of free school meal status under universal provision: a UK focussed ethnography

Background

Recent shifts in UK public perceptions of free school meals (FSMs) centre on recognising the rights of all young people to school food, partly due to youth-based movements and advocacy for food justice, and the role of public figures in reshaping perceived FSM identity and associated stigma. Alongside this, means-tested FSM status is increasingly utilised as a binary proxy for poverty in routinely collected administrative and research data. We questioned: what does FSM status mean for young people in the UK, and how does a novel policy of universal provision in secondary schools impact them?

Methods

We conducted a focussed ethnography of universal FSM provision in four secondary schools in a deprived urban area over six months in 2025, the only policy of this kind at the time in the UK. Alongside field notes from >90 hrs of observations, informal discussions and shared lunches, we formally interviewed 17 staff and 14 parents, and undertook 9 focus groups with 38 students. Reflexive thematic analysis and panel analysis techniques were applied to transcribed data.

Results

We found that the datafication of FSM status under universal provision has relational and material consequences for students, both inside and outside the school lunch hall. This includes: impacting access to financial and educational opportunities, social and extra-curricular activities; and changing care practices enacted by staff and students. In a context of high need, it prevents students going without food, but also produces some equity related challenges.

Conclusions

Whilst all receive a free lunch under universal provisioning, young people are still assigned a status (FSM or not) that obscures the complex distribution of household finances and food insecurity experienced by young people and their families. The status can provide both opportunities and constraints in differing ways. These insights need considering in future research and policy making around school meal programmes.

Key messages

• When school meals are provided to all students, the free school meal status takes on new meanings, with less visible stigma and greater access to opportunities and equity.

• The free school meal status is a limited measure of poverty, obscuring the complex household finances and food insecurity experienced by young people and their families.