Category: Press Releases

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 23 February 2025.

First 750 schools to offer clubs from April, delivering on government’s Plan for Change.

Families and children in every corner of England will soon benefit from free, daily breakfast clubs as the government is set to confirm the first 750 schools to offer the scheme, putting up to £450 a year back in parents’ pockets.

From as soon as April, chosen schools across all 9 regions will kick-off the historic programme, with an early adopter phase set to inform the government’s landmark national roll out which will give all parents access to the scheme.

Delivering on promises made to working parents in the government’s manifesto, all primary aged children in early adopter schools will be able to access a free breakfast and at least 30 minutes of free childcare, every day, helping to support parents getting into work by dropping their children off half an hour earlier.

Schools are encouraged to offer healthy, varied and nutritious breakfasts, with examples from wheat bisks and porridge to fresh fruit and yoghurt. The early adopter schools also provide the perfect setting to host activities including arts and crafts, educational puzzles, reading and more.

Universal free breakfast clubs are central to the government’s Plan for Change, removing barriers to opportunity by making sure every child starts the school day ready to learn – with research showing the clubs can have a lasting impact on children’s behaviour, attendance and attainment.

Making sure no child starts school hungry, the scheme also has an important role to play in the government’s commitment to remove the stain of child poverty, as out of the 180,000 children who will benefit in the early adopter schools, around 67,000 attend schools in deprived areas.

The clubs come alongside a raft of measures designed to cut the cost of living for families, including the commitment to significantly cut uniform costs through a cap on branded items and complement government-funded childcare.

Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said:

Free breakfast clubs sit right at the heart of our Plan for Change, breaking the link between background and success for families all over the country.

Breakfast clubs can have a transformative impact on the lives of children, feeding hungry tummies and fuelling hungry minds, so every child begins the day ready to learn.

Alongside our plans to roll out school-based nurseries and get thousands more children school-ready, this government is delivering the reforms needed to give every child, wherever they grow up, the best start in life.

Schools were chosen from across England to ensure the scheme tests and learns from a variety of locations, including those that do not currently run a breakfast club, and all will receive funding to cover food and staffing costs.

Government research shows most parents (87%) think breakfast clubs are a good chance for children to socialise, and two thirds (66%) recognise the value of clubs providing educational activities.

Breakfast clubs have been shown to boost children’s reading, writing, and maths by an average of 2 months.

Too many children’s life chances are being scarred by rising poverty, with 1 in 4 in absolute poverty as of 2023. The government is determined to change that, with the breakfast club rollout being driven alongside wider work of the Child Poverty Taskforce, which is set to deliver an ambitious strategy to increase household income, bring down essential costs, and tackle the challenges felt by those living in poverty.

Jackie Fitton, Headteacher at Kearsley West Primary School said:

We are delighted to be one of the early adopter schools. For our school, the funding provided will be a real-life saver, ensuring we can provide a healthy breakfast and supportive start to the day for our pupils.

Breakfast clubs have already made a massive difference to pupils’ wellbeing, providing them with time to settle in, socialise with friends and get ready to learn.

Sir David Holmes CBE, Chief Executive of Family Action said:

Family Action welcomes the government’s announcement of the 750 schools who have been selected to take part in the Early Adopters Scheme. These schools will have a vital test and learn role which will undoubtedly inform the national rollout of the government’s exciting universal breakfast policy.

We know that an effective breakfast provision delivered in a supportive and enriching environment can make the world of difference to a child. We look forward to sharing our long experience of delivering breakfast provision ourselves with early adopter schools.

Early adopter schools will shape the future of the national breakfast club policy, contributing directly to its implementation. Further details on the national roll out of the breakfast clubs programme will follow in due course.  The wider paid-for wraparound childcare offer – for all primary children to be able to access childcare between 8am and 6pm – continues to roll out across the country.

Notes to editors

1. Number of eligible pupils attending early adopter schools in the bottom third most deprived LSOAs in England using IDACI English indices of deprivation 2019 at 19 February 2025.
2. An Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) impact evaluation of the Magic Breakfast programme found that offering pupils in primary schools a free, universal, before-school breakfast club which includes a breakfast can boost their reading, writing, and maths attainment by an average of 2 months’ additional progress in Key Stage 1.
3. Guidance on the early adopter scheme is available on GOV.UK.
4. More information on the 750 confirmed schools will soon be available on GOV.UK
5. For more information on parents for local breakfast club provision can be found on the Education Blog.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 21 February 2025.

Parents are set to save money on childcare thanks to new protections from additional charges on top of the government’s funded childcare offer, increasing access to high-quality early education and putting cash back into working families’ pockets.

To ensure no family is priced out of the support they need, the government has published updated guidance today that puts transparency at the heart of how the funded hours should be delivered, supporting local authorities to ensure providers make all additional charges – whether for nappies, wipes or lunch – clear and upfront to parents, and setting out that these charges must not be included as a condition for parents accessing their hours.

Giving every child the best start in life is central to the government’s mission to break the unfair link between background and success, and its Plan for Change to get tens of thousands more children a year school-ready by aged five.

As part of this, the government is committed to delivering on the promises made to working parents, so they can save up to £7,500 on average from using the full 30 hours a week of government funded childcare support, compared to paying for it themselves.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said:

Giving every child the best start in life is my top priority, and integral to our mission to ensure tens of thousands more children are school ready every year.

That’s why despite the inherited challenges we face, we are pressing ahead with the investment and leadership needed to support families and make sure that every child, regardless of background, can access the high-quality early education they deserve.

Today marks an important step towards an early years system that is accessible for parents, sustainable for providers, and better serves children’s development.

This comes as the government has announced a targeted approach to its next tranche of early years funding to support the sector to deliver the new places needed for parents of children from nine months old looking to take up the entitlements for the first time.

Despite having to take tough decisions to fix the foundations of the economy, the government is increasing investment in early years to over £8 billion next year.

This includes a dedicated £75 million expansion grant, which will be targeted to providers supporting delivery of the expanded 30 hours of government-funded childcare in September, helping parents with children from nine months back into work and boosting household finances.

This means that private and voluntary providers, including childminders, are expected to see significant impact from a share of an average of around £500,000 in local areas. Funding allocations will vary between local authorities, reflecting local circumstances, with some of the largest areas seeing up to £2.1 million.

£75m is equivalent, on average, to an additional £80 per two-year old, and £110 per child under-two, though final amounts of funding reaching providers will depend on local circumstances.

The government also continues to make quick progress towards its Plan for Change milestone, with thousands of early years educators continuing to benefit from support networks and early maths training this year.

The Stronger Practice Hubs programme, which supports early years settings to deliver high-quality education by sharing knowledge and evidence-based approaches via 18 regional Hubs, has been funded for a further year.

On top of this, as part of wider work to deliver on the government’s commitment to boost early maths support for children, the Maths Champions programme delivery also launches this month – with up to 800 early years settings to benefit from the training this year.

Delivered in partnership with the National Day Nurseries Association and Education Endowment Foundation, an evaluation of the programme showed children in settings receiving the Maths Champions programme can make an average of three months’ additional progress in maths compared to their peers.

Educators in this year’s first cohort of 156 settings will take up the training this month, with spaces still available for sign-ups from March to June.

These programmes form part of wider vital work to drive high and rising standards across early education, offering improved early learning support and the training that educators need to prepare children for school.

The government will continue to work closely with parents and providers to deliver its ambitious reforms so that tens of thousands more children have the invaluable skills needed from communication and maths to personal, physical and social development to have the best possible life chances.

Lydia Hodges, head of Coram Family and Childcare, said:

We welcome the clarification in this update, which is something we have been calling for to address the high level of variation in childcare costs to parents. Our research shows that additional charges can be a major barrier to families – particularly disadvantaged families – taking up their funded early education entitlements.

Supporting childcare providers through these changes will be essential, to ensure the sector remains stable, but this updated guidance is an important step towards a transparent system that allows parents to make informed choices about their childcare options and enables all children to access their entitlements, particularly those who stand to benefit the most from high quality early education.

Emily Yeomans, Co-CEO of The Education Endowment Foundation, said:

Our independent evaluations of the Maths Champions programme have consistently shown its potential in establishing solid foundations in maths for young children. Crucially, this potential is even greater for children from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

A strong grounding in early maths is so important for setting up children for later success, acting as a fundamental enabler of later opportunity. So I’m delighted that we’re able to offer hundreds of early years settings access to the programme this year so that many more children can benefit.