Free breakfast clubs grant: 2026 to 2027 academic year
Guidance for schools and local authorities on funding for the free breakfast clubs programme from September 2026.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
This guidance is for:
- local authorities
- school leaders
- school teachers
- governing bodies and their representatives
It applies to:
- schools
- academies
- local authorities
Conditions of grant
The main grant conditions sets out the funding terms and conditions for those providing a free breakfast club in the 2026 to 2027 academic year.
The champions grant conditions sets out specific funding terms and conditions for a set of schools who are supporting other local schools in their area.
Methodology
This sets out how the grant is calculated for September 2026 to July 2027 and how it will be paid.
Payments and allocations
Payments will be made in multiple phases:
- we will publish allocations for the fixed upfront payment which will be made at the end of October 2026 for local authorities and beginning of November 2026 for academies. This will also contain the arrears payment for the 2026 summer term for schools that are already delivering a breakfast club
- a further payment in arrears for the autumn 2026 term will be made at the end of February 2027 for local authorities and beginning of March 2027 for academies. This will also contain the fixed upfront payment for the spring term 2027
- a final payment in arrears for the spring 2027 term will be made at the end of May 2027 for local authorities and beginning of June 2027 for academies. This will also contain the fixed upfront payment for the summer term 2027.
Further details
If schools have any questions about delivering their breakfast club, please reach out to us via the programme’s help portal.
Free breakfast clubs: guidance for schools and trusts for phase 1 of the national rollout from April 2026 is also available.