This research updates analysis from 2016 which compares how representative different groups of schools are compared to their catchment area in terms of the socio-economic background of their pupils.
We compare the free school meal rate (FSM) of the pupils in a school’s entry cohort (generally Year 7) to the FSM rate of their catchment areas.
The project, funded by the Sutton Trust, used data from the National Pupil Database to estimate the school-level FSM rates of pupils in schools' entry cohorts (generally Year 7) and compare these to the FSM rates of the schools’ catchment areas.
The focus of the research was to explore whether the FSM rates of the ‘top’ 500 comprehensive schools (as measured by Progress 8 or Attainment 8) reflected that of their location.
