Funding for free breakfast clubs

Funding for free breakfast clubs includes a start-up grant and ongoing payments. The amount your school gets depends on the type of school it is and how many pupils attend the free breakfast club. Rates are adjusted using an area cost adjustment (ACA) based on location.

Detailed information about payment locations, methodology, grant conditions and reporting requirements (opens in new tab) is available.

What payments schools receive

You will receive 3 different payments:

Per-pupil funding

This payment is based on the average attendance of your free breakfast club. For the autumn term 2026 you will be asked to report this average to the department once a term.

Daily guaranteed payment

This payment is the same regardless of how many pupils attend.

Start-up grant

This will be funded to all schools to help purchase equipment and materials.

Mainstream schools will receive

  • £1 for every pupil who attends the free breakfast club each day
  • £25 a day guaranteed
  • £1000 to help set up a free breakfast club

Special schools and alternative provisions will receive

  • £3.20 for every pupil who attends the free breakfast club each day
  • £19.95 a day guaranteed
  • £1000 to help set up a free breakfast club
Calculate how much funding your school could recieve (opens in new tab)

What are the funding conditions

To be eligible for funding, all schools must:

  • continue to meet the minimum free breakfast club requirements
  • only claim funding for pupils who are in reception to year 6 and arrive in time to benefit from an earlier start to the school day
  • submit the required attendance and monitoring data
  • use the funding for the approved breakfast club delivery and set-up costs
  • avoid double funding, for example claiming both free breakfast club funding and wraparound funding for the same 30-minute activity
  • meet the full grant conditions (opens in new tab)

Data schools need to share with the Department for Education

To calculate per-pupil payments and monitor the success of the free breakfast club, you must submit attendance and programme data at different points during the year.

You will be expected to:

  • report how many pupils attend the breakfast club
  • report which pupils attend
  • complete regular surveys to feed back on the progress of their breakfast clubs