24 Mar 2025 The first in line: The breakfast clubs early adopters scheme explained
Last month, the government confirmed the list of schools taking part in the breakfast clubs early adopters’ scheme, which will see around 180,000 primary school children across England take part in a pilot of a free, universal breakfast club.
Up to 750 participating schools representing all nine regions of England, will be funded to provide access to a free, universal breakfast club lasting at least 30 minutes that includes food. The list of schools taking part in the scheme have now been confirmed.
The scheme, announced as part of the Labour government’s General Election manifesto last year, will start after the Easter holidays, and officially come to an end in April 2026. A total of £30 million has been allocated towards funding the pilot.
This is part of a test and learn approach, piloting for the first year with a view to rolling out to all schools in due course. The government will continue to support the schools currently providing the National School Breakfast Programme to disadvantaged children alongside the pilot.
How will it support children and families?
Core to the breakfast club programme is to work towards tackling child poverty, which has been highlighted as a key priority for the Labour government.
In 2024, an estimated 4.3 million children, or 30% of all children in the UK, were living in low-income households. This means that these households are struggling to access the resources to meet minimum needs – including food. This ultimately results in families making compromises on the type and amount of food they buy in order to meet the growing pressures on their budgets[1].
It is therefore no surprise that many children are coming to school ready to learn, yet their stomachs are rumbling – despite breakfast being widely regarded as the most important meal of the day. Research published by Barnardo’s just this month found that one in five teachers (20%) reported that the number of children who are too hungry to learn has increased since the beginning of the academic year; with a further quarter of teachers (25%) using their own money to feed children[2]. This is consistent with research published by School Food Matters[3], and the National Foundation for Education[4] ; 38% and 31% teachers surveyed also reporting children turning up to school in the morning too hungry to learn.
This pilot scheme will go some way to ensuring that children are fed before the start of the school day, helping them to focus during the school day and improving their ability to achieve.
A growing number of schools have been offering breakfast clubs in recent years; the Magic Breakfast programme has been shown to boost children’s reading, writing, and maths by an average of two months[5]. Research from the North East also found that parents valued breakfast clubs for offering a settled and enjoyable start to the day, as well as providing unique opportunities for social interaction outside of the formal school day. However, the research also identified concerns that some children were being excluded from participating in breakfast clubs particularly due to costs associated with attendance[6]. The early adopter’s scheme will take a universal approach; meaning that all children will be able to access the club, removing any financial barrier for parents.
This scheme is also designed to support the wider family household income and is estimated to save parents up to £450 a year by reducing the amount families spend on groceries for breakfast, the need for before school childcare and contributing to an increase in parents’ ability to work more hours. This was also a theme identified in the research cited above5; particularly benefitting parents who work and offering a means of affordable and reliable childcare.
What types of food will be provided to children for breakfast?
The Department for Education (DfE) is urging schools to offer breakfasts that are both nutritious and appealing. Last month, it issued detailed guidance for early adopters, reinforcing that school food standards must be met.
The school food standards are already mandatory in all maintained schools, new academies and free schools, and came into force in January 2015. The standards, which apply across all food and drink served across the school day, are designed to ensure food provided in schools is nutritious and of high quality, to promote good nutritional health in all pupils and protect those who are nutritionally vulnerable. The standards provide guidance on what food should be served, when, and how often. A variety of fruits and vegetables, a starchy food, a protein source and a portion of dairy or dairy alternative should be served every day. Additionally, fresh water should be readily available.
The DfE highlights the need for breakfasts to comply with these standards, outlining approved options such as wholegrain and unsweetened cereals, high-fibre bread, fresh or preserved fruits, and hot items like mushrooms, tomatoes, or baked beans. The guidance also specifies foods that are not allowed, including packaged cereal bars, processed fruit bars, pre-packaged croissants, and chocolate-coated products.
What are some of the early concerns and reservations?
Complying with the school food standards
Despite the DfE issuing guidance that breakfast options provided through the scheme must meet the school food standards, simply stating this does not necessarily result in compliance. This needs to be part of a wider discussion on the issue of poor adherence to the school food standards across England; research has consistently shown that the majority of schools are non-compliant with the standards across the whole school day[7].
Currently there are no mechanisms in place to identify non-compliance, and we would like to see further detail on how the government will ensure that schools not only comply with the standards for breakfast club provision, but across the whole school day. This could include improved training and awareness of the standards with school cooks, and a more robust monitoring process.
Under the previous government, the Food Standards Agency and DfE commissioned and rolled out a compliance pilot across 18 sites in England in 2022-23. We are keen to find out how the new government plans to act on the learning generated through the pilot to support improved compliance across the whole school day. However, the early adopters pilot scheme is a great opportunity to test how schools may be supported to comply with the standards at breakfast; and identify tools or resources that may be required to support schools in the wider roll out of the scheme.
We believe it is essential that the government is able to guarantee that the foods offered through the breakfast early adopters’ scheme is healthy and nutritious.
Funding and other logistical issues
There are also some concerns about the amount of funding that has been allocated to schools taking part in the pilot. According to Schools Week, the basic funding rate is just 60p per pupil and an additional 78p per pupil per day will be added based on the proportion of free school meal pupils at the school. Special schools will receive £3.23p per pupil.
Schools Week have reported that some schools have dropped out of the pilot scheme entirely, claiming that the funding does not cover the costs of running a breakfast club (including food, facilities and staff time) and in fact may lead to the school having a shortfall of around £9,000[8].
Limited funding may result in a decrease in the quality of food offered at the club, which could mean compromising on the school food standards. This is yet again part of a wider issue of insufficient funding for school food generally.
Furthermore, there are some concerns that the funding only covers a 30-minute period and how feasible it will be to serve breakfast to all children attending in this tight window; in addition to the current space and facilities schools have if the majority of pupils take up the scheme.
Industry influence
In December, a BMJ investigation revealed the widespread influence of food and drink brands in schools and nurseries, including through breakfast clubs[9]. Kellogg’s and Greggs have sponsored school breakfast clubs in the UK for more than two decades. Since 1998, Kellogg’s has donated £5.7 million to schools through the Kellogg’s Breakfast Club Network, as well as providing the Magic Breakfast charity with gift-in-kind Cornflakes and Rice Krispies cereal.
There are concerns that brand awareness and loyalty raised by exposure to healthier products can contribute to a preference for and consumption of less healthy products in that brand’s portfolio. Research last year by Action on Sugar found that several Kellogg’s cereals marketed to children, including Frosties, contain excessive levels of sugar[10].
Following the investigation, our organisation, along with other campaign groups, public health experts, doctors, academics, campaigners, and peers of the realm, called on the government to ensure that children are not exposed to unhealthy food and drink marketing through the early adopter’s pilot scheme. You can read the letter here.
Food for thought
It’s important to remember that this is a pilot scheme, so challenges are to be expected beyond those already discussed. However, this also presents an opportunity to test, learn, and address any major issues before a full nationwide rollout next year.
Crucially, the government must actively listen to schools throughout the process. Schools will have the most valuable insights on how the scheme should be implemented effectively, we urge the government to create ample opportunities for feedback and adjustments both during and after the pilot phase.
The pilot is set to officially launch next month after the Easter holidays, and we look forward to learning how schools adapt and respond.
References
[1] https://foodfoundation.org.uk/news/families-cutting-back-healthy-food-risks-widening-health-inequalities
[2] Barnardo’s (2025) Nourishing the Future [online] Available at: https://www.barnardos.org.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/Nourishing%20the%20Future%20Report%20-%20FINAL.pdf
[3] https://www.schoolfoodmatters.org/news-views/press-releases/schools-dipping-their-own-budgets-stop-children-going-hungry
[4] https://www.nfer.ac.uk/press-releases/nearly-one-third-of-primary-school-teachers-report-more-pupils-showing-up-to-class-hungry/
[5] https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/projects-and-evaluation/projects/magic-breakfast
[6] Graham, Pamela & Russo, Riccardo & Defeyter, Margaret. (2015). The Advantages and Disadvantages of Breakfast Clubs According to Parents, Children, and School Staff in the North East of England, UK. Frontiers in Public Health. 3. 10.3389/fpubh.2015.00156.
[7] Pallan, M., Murphy, M., Morrison, B. et al. National school food standards in England: a cross-sectional study to explore compliance in secondary schools and impact on pupil nutritional intake. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 21, 123 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-024-01672-w
[8] https://schoolsweek.co.uk/we-cant-run-at-a-loss-heads-snub-flagship-breakfast-clubs/
[9] https://www.bmj.com/content/387/bmj.q2661
[10] Action on Sugar. Breakfast cereals and yogurts. https://www.actiononsugar.org/surveys/2023/breakfast-cereals-and-yogurts/
