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Updated: October 2026

If you run a breakfast club in England, the next couple of years will change how your mornings work. The government has pledged a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children, and the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, which became law in April, makes free breakfast clubs mandatory in primary schools.

The rollout is happening in phases. 750 early adopter schools started in April 2025, and around 2,000 more joined during 2026, some in April and most in September. DfE says more than 2,700 schools are now running one. So most schools aren’t on the programme yet, but many will be soon.

For clubs, this brings real questions. Will the school start its own club? Will parents stop paying? The good news is that DfE’s guidance is clear: schools shouldn’t push out provision that’s already working well. Clubs that understand the rules, and talk to their schools early, are well placed to become the school’s delivery partner.

This guide covers what a free breakfast club must offer, how schools are funded, how to approach your school and how to price around the free session.

The rules in brief

A free breakfast club on the programme must:

  • run for at least 30 minutes, finishing right before the school day starts
  • be open to all pupils from Reception to Year 6, at no cost
  • serve food that meets the school food standards, including fruit or vegetables, with water always available
  • be run on the school site or nearby, for example at a partner school or a community hall, with children taken safely to school

The school is responsible for making sure a free club is offered, but it doesn’t have to run it. It can deliver it in-house, contract a private, voluntary or independent (PVI) provider, or mix the two. If a PVI provider delivers it, a few extra rules apply:

  • Ofsted registration is required. You’ll need to be on the Early Years Register or the General Childcare Register, depending on the ages you care for.
  • The free club can’t depend on paid sessions. Children must never have to book paid care to get the free 30 minutes, and nothing about the set-up should put families off using it.
  • No stigma. Children who come only for the free session should be treated the same as everyone else.

The food rules are worth checking against what you serve now. Packaged cereal bars, pre-packaged croissants and sweets aren’t allowed, and processed meats such as sausages and bacon are limited to once a week. New school food standards come in from September 2027, with separate breakfast standards to follow.

How schools are funded

Knowing what the school receives helps you have a realistic conversation about what a partnership is worth. For 2026 to 2027, a mainstream school on the programme gets:

  • £25 a day towards fixed costs, whatever the numbers, paid upfront each term
  • £1 per pupil per day who attends, paid the following term
  • a one-off £1,000 start-up grant, which can go on equipment, training such as paediatric first aid and food hygiene, and systems such as booking software

Both daily rates are adjusted for local labour costs. The money is meant to cover food, staffing and admin. Only children who arrive in time to benefit count towards the per-pupil funding, so accurate registers matter. Here’s what that looks like for a mainstream school averaging 30 children a day, before the area cost adjustment:

Term (2026 to 2027) School days Fixed-cost funding Per-pupil funding (30 a day) Total
Autumn 74 £1,850 £2,220 £4,070
Spring 57 £1,425 £1,710 £3,135
Summer 63 £1,575 £1,890 £3,465
Year 194 £4,850 £5,820 £10,670

That works out at roughly £55 a morning. Compare it with what a 30-minute session costs you to run, including staff, food and setting up, before you agree a price with your school. Special schools and alternative provision are funded at different rates.

Becoming your school’s delivery partner

DfE guidance tells schools not to displace a PVI breakfast club that’s meeting children’s needs. Instead, they should fold the free offer into what’s already there. The free club also mustn’t make wider childcare less available or less affordable, and councils must work with schools to avoid that happening. That gives existing clubs a strong starting point.

Don’t wait for the school to come to you. Ask whether it has applied for the programme, or plans to, and offer to talk through how a partnership could work. Bring:

  • Your registration and safeguarding details: Ofsted registration, enhanced DBS checks for all staff, and your safeguarding training. Schools must follow Keeping Children Safe in Education, so they’ll want to see this.
  • Your first aid and allergy cover: a member of staff with a full paediatric first aid certificate must be in the room when Reception children are eating, and staff should be trained to spot anaphylaxis.
  • Your food set-up: whether you’ll prepare breakfast yourselves or the school’s caterer will. If your own staff handle food, you need to be registered as a food business.
  • Your costings: what the free session costs to run, and how that compares with the school’s funding.
  • How you’ll keep registers: the school has to report attendance to DfE, so show how you’ll give it accurate numbers.

When you agree terms, put them in a contract or service level agreement. Cover how long it runs, which rooms and storage you can use, who provides the food, how and when the school pays you, what attendance data you’ll share, and whether any of the start-up grant goes on equipment or training for your club.

If the school plans to take over an existing club rather than partner with it, staff transfer rules (TUPE) may apply, and both sides should take legal advice. Your council’s school-age childcare lead can also help broker the conversation.

Pricing around the free 30 minutes

Many working parents need care from 7.30am or earlier, so a paid early start before the free session is still valuable. But if you run both, DfE expects parents to pay less for the paid part than they did before, because the last 30 minutes are now free.

One simple way to work it out is to price the time that’s still paid for. Say you used to charge £6 for 7.30am to 8.45am, which is 75 minutes. If 8.15am to 8.45am becomes the free club, a pro-rata price for 7.30am to 8.15am would be £3.60. You might land a little higher if your fixed costs, such as opening up and staffing the first half hour, haven’t changed, but the fee should still clearly come down.

A few things help the change go smoothly:

  • Make the free session easy to book on its own. Show it as a separate option on your booking page, so it’s clear nobody has to buy the early start to get it.
  • Explain the change to parents. A short message saying what’s free, what still costs and the new price avoids confusion and builds goodwill.
  • Plan for more children. A free session usually brings in families who didn’t use breakfast club before, so check your staffing and space.
  • Look at your whole week. If breakfast income falls, a modest review of after-school or holiday fees may help balance it. Our funding guide has more on reviewing fees.

Registers, records and Ofsted

Good records protect your funding and make inspections easier.

  • Attendance: schools report how many children attend to DfE, and only children who arrive in time to benefit count. They’re also asked to compare bookings with who actually turns up. Recording arrival times, not just names, gives the school the figures it needs.
  • Allergies and medical needs: keep them visible to every member of staff at breakfast, since food is served every session.
  • Accidents and incidents: log them the same way you would for any other session.
  • Ofsted: which register you need depends on the ages of the children. If you care for Reception children, you’ll follow the Early Years Foundation Stage safeguarding and welfare requirements. Schools are asked to check that partners are properly registered, so make sure your registration covers breakfast sessions at that site.

If your school isn’t on the programme yet

DfE hasn’t yet set dates for the next phases, and says guidance for 2027 to 2028 will follow. That gives you time to prepare: Ask your school about its plans. Find out whether it intends to apply and how it might deliver the club.

Get your paperwork ready. Check your Ofsted registration, DBS checks, paediatric first aid, allergy training and food business registration. Review your menu. Make sure breakfasts already meet the school food standards, so there’s nothing to change later.

Cost it up. Work out what a free 30-minute session would cost you, and what your early start would cost on its own.

Talk to your council. Your school-age childcare lead can tell you which local schools are joining and may be looking for a partner.

Ready for the change

Free breakfast clubs are a big shift, but they don’t have to be a threat. Clubs that know the rules, have their costings ready and talk to their schools early are in a strong position to become the trusted partner every school will need.

Kids Club HQ can help you run a free session alongside your paid early start without the extra admin. With online bookings, live registers that record arrival times, and automated invoicing, you can offer the free club as its own booking option and give your school accurate attendance figures. Try it free for 14 days, or join a live demo on Zoom to see how it works.

All figures and guidance in this article are correct according to the sources cited below as at [publication date]. Funding rates and rules can change, so check the latest DfE guidance before making decisions.

Sources