Assessing free school meals eligibility as measure of social disadvantage with linked Understanding Society/NPD data
The National Pupil Database (NPD) is a key data resource that could help address many important policy questions relating to young people’s educational experience and outcomes. But there is only one individual-level measure of socioeconomic background in the NPD, namely eligibility for free school meals (FSM). It is unclear just how reliable FSM is as a measure of social disadvantage. And with FSM being provided to all primary school pupils in London, there is now no individual-level socioeconomic variable for this group of pupils. So there is an urgent need to consider the adequacy of FSM as a measure of social disadvantage; and what socioeconomic variable(s), if any, should replace it.
In this project, I use linked Understanding Society—NPD data to assess how FSM maps onto socioeconomic variables such as parental education, parental social class, and household income. I will also estimate how much bias will be introduced if we use FSM to predict students’ outcomes. The results of these analyses will inform policy discussion on the socioeconomic gradients in educational experience and attainment. This project will also demonstrate the potential of linked survey and administrative data as a resource to address important research and policy issues.
Read more about Tak Wing’s work on his university profile page.
