Impact of school breakfast programmes in primary schools in England

Publication type

Report

Authors

Publication date

July 13, 2026

Summary:

Free universal breakfast schemes have operated in disadvantaged primary schools in England for at least 30 years, funded by charities and, from 2018/19, the National School Breakfast Programme. Since early 2025, the government has been rolling out before-school Breakfast Clubs to all primary pupils, prioritising schools with disadvantaged intakes in the first instance.
This report investigates free breakfast schemes run by three major providers - Magic Breakfast, the Greggs Foundation, and the National School Breakfast Programme - using secondary data from 2006 to 2024, with the aim of informing the national roll-out of breakfast clubs in England. We describe how the schemes were rolled out, how they were delivered, and how many children took them up. We then evaluate their impact on:

• Absences and punctuality

• Child development and educational attainment

• Children’s bodyweight

• Child emotional and behavioural difficulties

• Families’ subjective financial situation and food expenditure Throughout, we examine how impacts vary by provision mode and across different groups of pupils and schools.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5526/misoc-2026-003

Subjects

#589110

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