Table 3: Pupils taking school meals (free or paid for) by sector, 2000 to 2009 (1)
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|
Pupils on roll | Total | 744,577 | 739,511 | 733,520 | 730,372 | 723,355 | 714,499 | 703,258 | 694,060 | 681,339 | 672,108 |
|---|
Primary | 430,522 | 424,525 | 421,158 | 414,691 | 406,919 | 398,697 | 390,725 | 384,292 | 376,749 | 370,946 |
|---|
Secondary | 306,159 | 307,024 | 304,451 | 308,086 | 308,770 | 308,326 | 305,148 | 302,638 | 297,552 | 294,155 |
|---|
Special | 7,896 | 7,962 | 7,911 | 7,595 | 7,666 | 7,476 | 7,385 | 7,130 | 7,038 | 7,007 |
|---|
Pupils present on census day | Total | 688,235 | 665,012 | 669,809 | 659,418 | 668,144 | 655,805 | 646,097 | 639,948 | 629,005 | 627,446 |
|---|
Primary | 408,799 | 392,982 | 396,810 | 385,004 | 387,090 | 377,461 | 370,600 | 365,710 | 358,111 | 355,812 |
|---|
Secondary | 272,535 | 265,160 | 266,027 | 267,822 | 274,299 | 271,756 | 268,987 | 267,710 | 264,570 | 265,302 |
|---|
Special | 6,901 | 6,870 | 6,972 | 6,592 | 6,755 | 6,588 | 6,510 | 6,528 | 6,324 | 6,332 |
|---|
Pupils present and taking meals | Total | 326,451 | 324,309 | 336,557 | 333,989 | 329,179 | 306,034 | 297,791 | 294,921 | 296,243 | 282,980 |
|---|
Primary | 192,283 | 189,462 | 196,826 | 191,142 | 189,310 | 175,729 | 175,478 | 169,231 | 177,606 | 173,832 |
|---|
Secondary | 128,055 | 128,730 | 133,721 | 137,028 | 133,933 | 124,622 | 116,815 | 120,192 | 113,379 | 103,915 |
|---|
Special | 6,113 | 6,117 | 6,010 | 5,819 | 5,936 | 5,683 | 5,498 | 5,498 | 5,258 | 5,233 |
|---|
Percentage of those present taking meals | Total | 47.4 | 48.8 | 50.2 | 50.6 | 49.3 | 46.7 | 46.1 | 46.1 | 47.1 | 45.1 |
|---|
Total minus trial authorities | | | | | | 45.5 | 45.3 | 45.7 | 45.1 | 44.2 |
|---|
Primary | 47.0 | 48.2 | 49.6 | 49.6 | 48.9 | 46.6 | 47.3 | 46.3 | 49.6 | 48.9 |
|---|
Primary minus trial authorities | | | | | | 45.0 | 46.3 | 45.6 | 46.4 | 48.2 |
|---|
Secondary | 47.0 | 48.5 | 50.3 | 51.2 | 48.8 | 45.9 | 43.4 | 44.9 | 42.9 | 39.2 |
|---|
Special | 88.6 | 89.0 | 86.2 | 88.3 | 87.9 | 86.3 | 84.5 | 84.2 | 83.1 | 82.6 |
|---|
(1) A trial took place in 2008, providing free school meals to all pupils in P1-P3. This affects the comparability of number and percentage of meals taken in Primary over time. To aid comparability over time, uptake rates have also been provided on the basis of the 27 non-trial authorities for the past five years.