A guide to free breakfast clubs in primary schools
Free breakfast clubs are becoming available to children in some primary schools in England, as part of a Government scheme starting from April 2025. Since a healthy breakfast is a great way to set your child up for a good day, it’s worth finding out if this is (or soon will be) available to your family.
What are free breakfast clubs?
Free breakfast clubs are a 30 minute club that takes place at your child’s school, before the start of the school day. During this half hour, children are given breakfast so that they start the day with energy and focus. It also means half an hour of free childcare for busy parents.
My school already has a breakfast club, but I have to pay for it. How is this different?
Many schools will run some form of wraparound care for children. This can include after-school clubs and breakfast clubs, which parents pay for. This can be useful if parents work longer hours than the school day.
This wraparound care is separate from free breakfast clubs, which is a new scheme in England (see below for details of provision in other parts of the UK), and which parents don’t have to pay for.
When will free breakfast clubs start in England?
In England, the first 750 schools began to offer free breakfast clubs from April 2025 to their pupils. The number of schools running the scheme in England looks set to increase over time.
Your child’s school will be in contact with you to tell you if they are going to run free breakfast clubs, and they will let you know how you can sign up.
Breakfast clubs in Wales
If you live in Wales and your child goes to a primary school, they will already be eligible to receive free breakfast at school during term time. This has been available for any primary school children who want to take part in the free breakfast initiative since 2004. Well done Wales on leading the way!
Breakfast clubs in Scotland
Many children in Scotland can access a free breakfast at school. Currently, nearly half of schools in Scotland provide breakfast to their pupils, and additional funding has been provided to expand this provision.
If you want to know if your child’s school in Scotland runs a free breakfast club, please contact the school directly.
Breakfast clubs in Northern Ireland
There is funding available in Northern Ireland from the Extended Schools Programme to offer breakfast clubs and other services, if the school meets certain criteria. Other organisations also provide support to allow more schools to offer free breakfast to their pupils. The best way to find out if your child’s school offers a free breakfast club is to check with the school, either by contacting them directly or looking at the school’s website.
What are other ways I can make sure my child has access to healthy food?
With the recent surge in the cost of living, we understand that many parents are concerned about making sure they can afford to feed their children nutritious food. Here’s a list of places that will let kids eat for free over the summer holidays and you’ll find here the details of how free school meal provision has been expanded in England.
Disclaimer: This content was true at the time of writing, but may now have changed.
