Information on percentages of pupils entitled to free school meals in each local authority, ranked highest to lowest, in 2006-07 is shown in the following tables.
Maintained nursery and primary schools1 Percentage known to be eligible for free school meals Tower Hamlets 52.4 Islington 42.6 Hammersmith and Fulham 42.2 Camden 42.1 Manchester 40.5 Hackney 38.3 Kensington and Chelsea 37.7 Lambeth 37.3 Westminster 35.3 Southwark 33.6 Birmingham 33.1 Haringey 32.0 Greenwich 31.0 Liverpool 30.3 Newham 29.5 Newcastle upon Tyne 29.1 Salford 28.7 Knowsley 28.1 Wandsworth 27.5 Middlesbrough 27.3 Brent 27.3 Lewisham 26.4 Nottingham 26.4 South Tyneside 25.8 Stoke-on-Trent 25.8 Blackpool 25.3 Enfield 25.2 Waltham Forest 24.7 Wirral 24.6 Barking and Dagenham 24.0 Leicester 23.0 Rochdale 23.0 Ealing 22.6 Blackburn with Darwen 22.3 Luton 22.1 Hounslow 21.6 Oldham 21.4 Hartlepool 21.3 Bristol, City of 21.2 Croydon 21.0 Southampton 20.9 Redcar and Cleveland 20.8 Halton 20.5 Sandwell 20.1 Coventry 20.1 Bradford 20.1 Wolverhampton 19.9 Gateshead 19.8 Walsall 19.6 Sunderland 19.3 St. Helens 19.2 Derby 19.2 Barnet 19.1 North East Lincolnshire 18.9 Leeds 18.7 Durham 18.3 Darlington 18.1 Isle of Wight 18.0 Redbridge 17.8 Telford and Wrekin 17.7 Doncaster 17.7 Rotherham 17.0 Southend-on-Sea 17.0 Barnsley 16.9 Hillingdon 16.8 Sheffield 16.8 Harrow 16.6 Stockton-on-Tees 16.5 Bolton 16.4 Plymouth 16.4 Peterborough 16.4 Tameside 16.3 Slough 16.2 North Tyneside 16.0 Torbay 15.9 Brighton and Hove 15.9 Reading 15.9 Kirklees 15.8 Portsmouth 15.8 Dudley 15.7 Wakefield 15.6 Sefton 15.0 Calderdale 14.8 Kingston upon Hull, City of 14.8 Wigan 14.6 Bury 14.2 Thurrock 13.7 Norfolk 13.3 North Lincolnshire 13.2 Milton Keynes 13.1 Lancashire 13.0 Sutton 12.8 Medway 12.8 Cumbria 12.4 Derbyshire 12.0 Merton 11.9 Nottinghamshire 11.9 Northumberland 11.7 Bromley 11.7 Havering 11.3 East Sussex 11.1 Stockport 11.1 Kent 11.1 Solihull 11.0 Cornwall 10.9 Bexley 10.9 Trafford 10.7 Bedfordshire 10.5 North Somerset 10.4 Bournemouth 10.3 Cheshire 10.2 Suffolk 10.1 Staffordshire 10.1 Essex 9.9 York 9.7 Swindon 9.7 Warwickshire 9.7 Devon 9.6 Bath and North East Somerset 9.5 Warrington 9.5 Gloucestershire 9.4 Worcestershire 9.1 Cambridgeshire 9.0 Oxfordshire 9.0 Shropshire 8.9 Kingston upon Thames 8.8 Hampshire 8.6 Richmond upon Thames 8.5 Somerset 8.1 Hertfordshire 8.0 East Riding of Yorkshire 8.0 North Yorkshire 7.9 Surrey 7.4 South Gloucestershire 7.4 Lincolnshire 7.3 West Berkshire 7.3 Herefordshire 7.2 Leicestershire 7.2 Northamptonshire 7.2 Wiltshire 6.7 Windsor and Maidenhead 6.6 Bracknell Forest 6.5 Poole 5.4 West Sussex 5.2 Dorset 4.9 Buckinghamshire 4.9 Rutland 4.5 Wokingham 4.3 Isles of Scilly x City of London4 n/a
Percentage known to be eligible for free school meals Tower Hamlets 58.8 Islington 41.4 Newham 39.2 Manchester 38.6 Lambeth 37.4 Hackney 37.3 Haringey 33.8 Camden 33.4 Knowsley 33.3 Birmingham 31.9 Southwark 31.9 Middlesbrough 31.8 Westminster 29.7 Greenwich 28.1 Nottingham 27.9 Liverpool 27.8 Barking and Dagenham 27.7 Kensington and Chelsea 26.6 Lewisham 25.7 Ealing 25.6 Hammersmith and Fulham 25.3 Waltham Forest 24.8 Wandsworth 24.0 Bradford 23.7 Rochdale 23.4 Salford 23.3 South Tyneside 23.1 Blackburn with Darwen 22.7 Brent 22.6 Wirral 22.0 Leicester 21.7 Blackpool 21.4 Luton 21.3 Sandwell 20.3 Newcastle upon Tyne 20.2 Oldham 20.0 Enfield 19.7 Stoke-on-Trent 19.2 Redcar and Cleveland 19.2 Harrow 19.2 Wolverhampton 18.9 Kingston Upon Hull, City of 18.9 Hartlepool 18.5 Croydon 18.4 Hounslow 18.3 Halton 18.1 Bristol, City of 17.1 Telford and Wrekin 17.0 St. Helens 16.9 Gateshead 16.9 Coventry 16.9 Hillingdon 16.8 Tameside 16.8 Walsall 16.8 Southampton 16.3 Barnsley 16.2 North East Lincolnshire 16.0 Redbridge 16.0 Leeds 16.0 Stockton-on-Tees 15.8 Richmond upon Thames 15.6 Derby 15.6 Peterborough 15.6 Durham 15.5 Kirklees 15.5 Dudley 15.3 Barnet 15.0 Isle of Wight 15.0 Brighton and Hove 14.8 Bolton 14.8 Portsmouth 14.7 Rotherham 14.6 Sefton 14.5 Sheffield 14.3 Sunderland 13.9 Darlington 13.8 Doncaster 13.8 Bury 13.6 Slough 13.5 Wigan 13.3 Wakefield 12.8 Calderdale 12.4 Merton 12.2 Torbay 11.7 Milton Keynes 11.7 Lancashire 11.6 Reading 11.4 Nottinghamshire 11.4 Stockport 11.3 Plymouth 11.2 North Lincolnshire 11.1 North Tyneside 11.0 Thurrock 10.7 Southend-on-Sea 10.7 Cumbria 10.2 Northumberland 10.1 Solihull 10.1 Bournemouth 10.0 Norfolk 10.0 East Sussex 9.7 Bromley 9.6 Cornwall 9.4 Havering 9.4 Medway 9.1 Derbyshire 9.1 Trafford 8.7 Bedfordshire 8.7 North Somerset 8.5 Suffolk 8.4 Swindon 8.4 Bexley 8.1 Worcestershire 8.0 Devon 8.0 Cheshire 8.0 York 8.0 Kingston upon Thames 7.9 Kent 7.9 Essex 7.8 Staffordshire 7.7 Somerset 7.6 Herefordshire 7.5 Cambridgeshire 7.4 Oxfordshire 7.3 Warrington 7.3 Sutton 7.2 East Riding of Yorkshire 7.2 Shropshire 6.0 Warwickshire 6.8 Lincolnshire 6.5 Hertfordshire 6.4 Hampshire 6.4 Gloucestershire 6.4 South Gloucestershire 8.1 Bath and North East Somerset 6.0 North Yorkshire 5.9 Dorset 5.9 West Sussex 5.8 Leicestershire 5.5 Northamptonshire 5.5 Buckinghamshire 5.4 Surrey 5.4 Poole 5.3 West Berkshire 5.0 Wiltshire 4.8 Wokingham 4.7 Bracknell Forest 4.7 Rutland 4.6 Windsor and Maidenhead 4.1 City of London 3— Isles of Scilly 3— x = Based on less than three pupils. n/a = Not available. 1 Includes dually registered pupils and boarding pupils. 2 Includes middle schools as deemed. 3 Not applicable. No schools of this type. 4 There is one maintained primary school in City of London local authority. When the provisional freeze of the school census database was taken this school had not provided its data which means provisional 2007 figures are not available for City of London local authority. Source: School Census