The government has announced an increase in the level of funding for free breakfast clubs in schools, as it launched the next application window for schools to join the programme. The per child funding rate for mainstream schools will rise to £1 (up from 60p). Schools will also receive a guaranteed £25 a day to cover staffing and admin, and the one-off initial set up fee given to schools would also increase from £500 to £1000. According to government calculations, this means for an average size school with 50 per cent take up, the total funding package has increased by 28 per cent. During the government’s initial ‘test and learn’ phase, stories emerged of schools either dropping out of the scheme, or even declining to take part completely, citing what were perceived as insufficient funding rates – especially for smaller and special schools.
The current application window is to recruit 500 primary schools to join phase 1 of the national rollout starting in April 2026. It is open to schools with at least 40 per cent of pupils on free school meals (FSM), or which are the most disadvantaged school in their area. Schools can apply here: https://tinyurl.com/yspc3pf8. The government says that by prioritising schools with the highest proportion of pupils on FSM, the rollout ensures the impact of free breakfast clubs goes first to where it is most needed. A further 1500 primary schools will start offering the free breakfast clubs in September 2026, with applications for that phase due to open in January.
Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson said: ‘By rolling out free breakfast clubs to half a million more children, we’re not just filling empty stomachs, we’re supercharging the nation’s morning routines. This is about building a country where background doesn’t mean destiny, where we invest in our children’s futures, and where we deliver the real change working families desperately need’. Olivia Bailey, minister for early education, noted that the increase in funding ‘matters for children with SEND because it means schools can properly staff their clubs with teaching assistants and support staff who know these children well. It means they can create the calm, flexible environment that makes all the difference’.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, responded to the announcement of increased funding: ‘The breakfast club policy, if implemented successfully, is something which should do a great deal of good for children and families. Our concern all along has been that the inadequate levels of funding available meant this was going to be very difficult for schools to do in reality. It is reassuring that the government has now realised this, and increased funding rates accordingly. It’s important that this is kept under review as breakfast clubs are rolled out more widely, to ensure that schools have the support they need to set up and then run this provision in the long term.’
The news of the increased funding for breakfast clubs came as new analysis suggested that per-pupil funding for schools overall may be set to fall in real terms. Simon Oxenham, national lead on school finance and efficiency at the Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL), analysed the new national funding formula (NFF) for 2026/27, which has just been published. The NFF states that minimum per pupil funding levels (MPPFL) will increase to £5115 for primary pupils and £6640 secondary pupils. However, Mr Oxenham’s analysis reveals that this increase is almost entirely accounted for by the DfE having rolled the Schools Budget Support Grant and National Insurance Contributions Grant into core funding. If those grants are removed from the figures, the actual increase to MPPFL is just 0.02 per cent, he says. With the UK inflation rate at 3.6 per cent in October 2025, projected school cost pressures for 2026/27 are likely to be far higher than 0.02 per cent.