Cookies
The Check if a child can get free school meals service puts small files (known as ‘cookies’) onto your computer to collect information about how you browse the site.
Cookies are used to:
- measure how you use the website so it can be updated and improved based on your needs
- remember the notifications you’ve seen so that we don’t show them to you again
- store various settings you have selected so they will be used when you return to the site.
GOV.UK cookies aren’t used to identify you personally. You’ll normally see a message on the site before we store a cookie on your computer.
Find out more about how to manage cookies.
How cookies are used on this service
Measuring website usage (Google Analytics)
We use Google Analytics software to collect information about how you use GOV.UK. We do this to help make sure the site is meeting the needs of its users and to help us make improvements.
Google Analytics stores information about:
- the pages you visit on this service
- how long you spend on each page
- how you got to the site
- what you click on while you’re visiting the site
We don’t collect or store your personal information (for example, your name or address) so this information can’t be used to identify who you are.
We don’t allow Google to use or share our analytics data.
Google Analytics sets the following cookies:
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| _ga | Google Analytics sets the following cookies: | 2 years |
| _gid | This helps us count how many people visit GOV.UK by tracking if you’ve visited before | 24 hours |
| _ga_9YG8ESXR5Y | Used by Google Analytics to find and track an individual session with your device | 2 years |
You can opt out of Google Analytics cookies.
Our introductory message
You may see a pop-up welcome message when you first visit GOV.UK. We’ll store a cookie so that your computer knows you’ve seen it and knows not to show it again.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| ees_banner_seen | Saves a message to let us know that you’ve seen our cookie message | 1 year |
| ees_user_testing_banner_seen | Saves a message to let us know that you’ve seen our user testing invite message | 1 year |
Your cookie settings
We will store your cookie settings as a cookie, so that they remain if you return to GOV.UK: Explore education statistics.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| ees_disable_google_analytics | Disables Google Analytics tracking | 10 years |
Microsoft Application Insights
Microsoft Application Insights collects telemetry information.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| ai_user | Used to identify returning users | 1 year |
| ai_sessionx | Anonymous session identifer to group a user's activities | 15 minutes |
Check if a child can get free school meals - Cookies
These cookies are specific to this service.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|