When will Labour's free school breakfasts start? What we know so far about the new programme

• One of the Labour party’s pre-election manifesto pledges was to introduce free school breakfast clubs in every primary school.
• Now the Chancellor has pledged some £7 million to get the programme started.
• But it won’t be available at all primary schools right away, with some benefitting earlier than others.

Free school breakfast clubs may soon roll out across hundreds of English schools - fuelling the work and play of thousands of children.

Many children are already eligible for one free school meal each day, especially those with parents receiving some kind of income support or Universal Credit. But the Labour government previously pledged to expand on this support, offering a free breakfast club at every primary school in England.

Now Chancellor Rachel Reeves has laid out new details about how the party plans to roll out the ambitious programme at its recent conference, committing £7 million to the first stage of the scheme, according to the Evening Standard.

It is one of a slew of policies in the party’s extensive pre-election education portfolio, which has seen a review of England’s national curriculum launched, as well as a fresh push to recruit thousands of new teachers. But free school breakfasts are also not only policy aimed at reducing the burden on struggling families and levelling out the playing field currently in the works either. Others include more free childcare hours for working parents, and making private schools pay VAT on fees - with the extra cash going towards improving state schools.

Here’s what we know so far about how it will work:

When will free school breakfasts start?

The Department for Education says in its official guidance that the free school breakfast club scheme will launch in the summer term of the current school year, which begins in April 2025.

However, it is worth noting that breakfast clubs won’t be rolled out to all of England’s primary schools at once. At the moment, the Department is is the process of reaching out to state-funded schools who are interested in being ‘early adopters’ of the programme. It will choose 750 of these schools to start with, announcing them early next year before the official launch.

The early adopters will help the government figure out how to deliver free school breakfast clubs in a way that builds on what is already happening in schools, meets the needs of parents, and ensures children start the day ready to learn. It will then decide how best to roll out the programme to other schools in the future “as soon as possible”, a spokesperson for the Chancellor told the Standard.

How do I know if my family is eligible - and how do I sign my child up?

Details have not yet been confirmed about exactly which children will be eligible for free school breakfast clubs, although official guidance suggests more information will be available later in autumn this year.

But the guidance does say the new programme will build on the support already in place - namely the current national school meal programme and the school holiday activities and food programme. Both of these are targeted towards children from more deprived backgrounds whose families already receive some kind of government support.

Depending on the local authority, other children are also sometimes eligible. Families can check what support is available in their area and apply for it by entering their postcode here.

This seems to be supported by comments Reeves made in her speech at the Labour Conference, as reported by ITV. “I will judge my time in office a success if I know that at the end of it there are working-class kids from ordinary backgrounds who lead richer lives, their horizons expanded, and able to achieve and thrive in Britain today.”

What do you think about free school breakfast clubs, and which families they should be open to to better support our young people? Have your say and make your voice heard by leaving a comment below.