Breakfast clubs early adopters: parents survey technical note
Published 1 September 2026
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2026
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/breakfast-clubs-early-adopters-results-from-parents-survey/breakfast-clubs-early-adopters-parents-survey-technical-note
Ipsos UK carried out the parents survey for the breakfast clubs early adopters pilot, commissioned by the Department of Education (DfE).
This technical note details Ipsos’ approach to sampling, data cleaning and weighting.
The parents and carers survey was carried out between 2 March 2026 and 27 March 2026. It was administered online in primary schools across England.
Each school received a unique survey link through an email invitation. This was distributed by the school, with all parents and carers in that school.
An email helpline was available to support schools with any general queries or technical difficulties encountered during survey completion.
Sampling
The sampling for this survey was the 750 early adopter schools.
DfE selected the 750 to ensure a wide range of representation across different school types, sizes and geographical areas. This allowed Ipsos and DfE to test and learn with as many different types of schools as possible before implementation of national roll-out.
Breakfast clubs early adopters grant: 2025 to 2026 academic year has more information about the DfE methodology approach to the early adopter schools.
Ipsos UK sent the survey link to all early adopter schools, with materials containing QR codes and links to the survey that could easily be given to parents and carers in the school.
The survey collected opinions and experiences from 5,487 parents and carers in early adopter schools.
Data cleaning
Only completed surveys were retained. Partially completed surveys were disregarded.
The survey SPSS file was anonymised. All identifiable information, such as the email address for those wishing to enter the prize draw data, was excluded from the final SPSS shared with DfE.
The SPSS data file was tidied, and variables were relabelled to match the data dictionary signed off by DfE. The ‘Prefer not to say’ code is treated as a missing response throughout.
Weighting
The approach used to weight the survey data was to calibrate:
- region
- school size
- number of pupils eligible for FSM
- number of pupils with SEND
Region and school size were used as interlocking weights. Tables 1 to 3 show the categories used for:
- school size
- number of pupils eligible for FSM
- number of pupils with SEND
This information was pulled from the Get information about schools (GIAS) website, and grouped by quartiles. Where data was unavailable for any of these variables, these were coded to the largest group for minimal impact on weighting.
The number of pupils per school was estimated using the GIAS data. The final weight was calculated based on the number of pupils in each school.
Table 1: School size categories
| Category | Range |
|---|---|
| Small | 1 to 136 |
| Medium | 137 to 365 |
| Large | 366 or more |
Table 2: Number of pupils eligible for FSM
| Category | Range |
|---|---|
| Low | 0.0% to 15.60% |
| Medium | 15.61% to 43.78% |
| High | 43.79% or more |
Table 3: Number of pupils with SEND
| Category | Range |
|---|---|
| Low | 0.0% to 11.63% |
| Medium | 11.64% to 19.68% |
| High | 19.69% or more |
Population estimates and weighting comparisons
The population estimates are shown in Tables 4a to 4e. The range of adjustments made by the calibration weighting was from 0.15 to 5.0, and the rim weighting efficiency was 61.6%. Maximum respondent rim weight was capped at 5.0.
Table 4a: Population estimates for calibration control totals – small schools
| Region | Count: number of schools | Count: number of pupils | %: number of pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 29 | 1,747 | 0.8 |
| East of England | 23 | 1,804 | 0.9 |
| London | 2 | 171 | 0.1 |
| North East | 15 | 1,170 | 0.6 |
| North West | 31 | 2,462 | 1.2 |
| South East | 14 | 1,267 | 0.6 |
| South West | 42 | 3,530 | 1.7 |
| West Midlands | 12 | 966 | 0.5 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 25 | 1,911 | 0.9 |
Table 4b: Population estimates for calibration control totals – medium schools
| Region | Count: number of schools | Count: number of pupils | %: number of pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 39 | 9,025 | 4.4 |
| East of England | 33 | 7,115 | 3.4 |
| London | 44 | 10,344 | 5.0 |
| North East | 33 | 7,554 | 3.6 |
| North West | 61 | 14,018 | 6.8 |
| South East | 34 | 7,753 | 3.7 |
| South West | 39 | 8,375 | 4.0 |
| West Midlands | 50 | 11,944 | 5.8 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 53 | 12,496 | 6.0 |
Table 4c: Population estimates for calibration control totals – large schools
| Region | Count: number of schools | Count: number of pupils | %: number of pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 21 | 12,853 | 6.2 |
| East of England | 21 | 9,928 | 4.8 |
| London | 33 | 20,745 | 10.0 |
| North East | 14 | 6,755 | 3.3 |
| North West | 22 | 10,721 | 5.2 |
| South East | 16 | 9,567 | 4.6 |
| South West | 12 | 5,442 | 2.6 |
| West Midlands | 26 | 13,030 | 6.3 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 26 | 14,661 | 7.1 |
Table 4d: Population estimates for calibration control totals – free school meals
| Free school meals | Count: number of schools | Count: number of pupils | %: number of pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low | 193 | 47,151 | 22.7 |
| Medium | 386 | 108,443 | 52.3 |
| High | 191 | 51,760 | 25.0 |
Table 4e: Population estimates for calibration control totals – special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
| SEND | Count: number of schools | Count: number of pupils | %: number of pupils |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low | 190 | 53,716 | 25.9 |
| Medium | 389 | 112,429 | 54.2 |
| High | 191 | 41,209 | 19.9 |
Table 5a: Comparison of unweighted and weighted profiles – small schools
| Region | Unweighted (%) | Weighted (%) | Population (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 1.6 | 0.8 | 0.8 |
| East of England | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
| London | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| North East | 1.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
| North West | 1.8 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| South East | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
| South West | 4.3 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| West Midlands | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 2.0 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
Table 5b: Comparison of unweighted and weighted profiles – medium schools
| Region | Unweighted (%) | Weighted (%) | Population (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 3.1 | 4.4 | 4.4 |
| East of England | 5.6 | 3.4 | 3.4 |
| London | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| North East | 4.9 | 3.6 | 3.6 |
| North West | 5.3 | 6.8 | 6.8 |
| South East | 5.3 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| South West | 4.4 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| West Midlands | 5.7 | 5.8 | 5.8 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 4.5 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
Table 5c: Comparison of unweighted and weighted profiles – large schools
| Region | Unweighted (%) | Weighted (%) | Population (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 3.0 | 6.2 | 6.2 |
| East of England | 6.7 | 4.8 | 4.8 |
| London | 3.2 | 10.0 | 10.0 |
| North East | 2.5 | 3.3 | 3.3 |
| North West | 3.1 | 5.2 | 5.2 |
| South East | 9.1 | 4.6 | 4.6 |
| South West | 2.9 | 2.6 | 2.6 |
| West Midlands | 8.0 | 6.3 | 6.3 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 4.4 | 7.1 | 7.1 |
Table 5d: Comparison of unweighted and weighted profiles – free school meals
| Free school meals | Unweighted (%) | Weighted (%) | Population (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low | 39.0 | 22.7 | 22.7 |
| Medium | 50.3 | 52.3 | 52.3 |
| High | 10.7 | 25.0 | 25.0 |
Table 5e: Comparison of unweighted and weighted profiles – special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
| SEND | Unweighted (%) | Weighted (%) | Population (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low | 29.5 | 25.9 | 25.9 |
| Medium | 50.5 | 54.2 | 54.2 |
| High | 20.0 | 19.9 | 19.9 |