Key Issues

• There is a considerable body of educational research evidence establishing an association between social deprivation and low educational achievement.
• A composite measure of social deprivation, comprising a number of indicators, is preferable to a single indicator but requisite data can be sensitive and expensive to collect and difficult to update.
• DENI therefore uses FSME as an indicator of social deprivation to allocate resources for TSN purposes. FSME is readily available, pupil specific and highly correlated with low educational achievement.
• A strong association between FSME and low educational achievement is evident at primary level in Transfer Procedure test results, at secondary level in average GCSE point scores and in reading standards from age 8 to 16.
• Pupils entitled to FSM are more likely to be persistent absentees from school and to leave school early, and less likely to continue on in further or higher education.
• Local research by the NIERC had confirmed the value of FSME as an indicator of social deprivation and endorsed its use in funding allocation formulae.