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The ITV Leaders' Debate, fact-checked

The team of fact-checkers from Full Fact were with ITV News to debunk and analyse the leaders' claims during the ITV Leaders' Debate on Thursday.

A number of topics were debated, including grammar schools, the deficit, housing benefit and foreign aid.

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Fact-checked: '3% of grammar schoolchildren eligible for free meals'

Around 3% of grammar schoolchildren are eligible for free school meals.

Around 3% of grammar schoolchildren are eligible for free school meals, according to Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron.

At the start of 2016, fewer than 3% of students in grammar schools were eligible for free meals, compared to 14% for all school types, Full Fact explain.

In other words, the poorest children are considerably less likely to get into grammar schools.

And that’s not just down to differences in ability.

“Amongst high achievers, those who are eligible for free school meals or who live in poorer neighbourhoods are significantly less likely to go to a grammar school,” the Institute for Fiscal Studies report.

The government argues that children from families earning below the average income - even if they’re not the very poorest in society - do attend grammar schools.

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