Free breakfast club champions grant: conditions of grant for September 2026 to July 2027
Published 8 July 2026
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2026
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/free-breakfast-clubs-grant-2026-to-2027-academic-year/free-breakfast-club-champions-grant-conditions-of-grant-for-september-2026-to-july-2027
1. Purpose
These conditions are for schools on the free breakfast club programme who have been accepted to the additional role of free breakfast club champion.
Recipients of this additional element of the main grant must ensure that the conditions as set out below are met. Receipt of the grant payment will be taken as acceptance of the grant conditions.
The funding formula calculations in the Free breakfast clubs: methodology for September 2026 to July 2027 should be read in conjunction with the full grant conditions and along with the overarching policy pages.
Free breakfast club champions will be expected to deliver in 3 main areas:
- The creation and facilitation of best practice groups on specific areas of breakfast club delivery.
- The creation and facilitation of cluster drop-in sessions based on geographical location.
- Tailored support and promotion of free breakfast clubs in conjunction with local authorities and expert advisers.
There will also be a requirement to liaise with the Department for Education (DfE) and the external advisers on a consistent basis.
1.1 Period
These conditions of grant cover the 2026 to 2027 academic year, September 2026 until July 2027.
Should a school wish to exit their role as free breakfast club champion, they should notify the Department immediately.
2. Eligibility
2.1 Types of settings
The following settings (other than where established in a hospital) are eligible to receive funding, provided they meet the criteria as set out in section 2.2 of free breakfast clubs grant: conditions of grant for September 2026 to July 2027.
Local authorities
This includes local authority maintained:
- mainstream schools
- special schools
- pupil referral units
This does not include pre-school, secondary or sixth-form provisions in these settings.
Academies
This includes:
- mainstream academies
- alternative provision and special academies
- non-maintained special schools
This does not include pre-school, secondary or sixth-form provision in these settings.
2.2 Criteria
Settings are only eligible for this funding where they have been accepted onto the free breakfast club champion role.
3. Payments
3.1 Calculation
An allocation for this additional grant payment has been calculated using a standardised methodology. We will publish the breakdown at setting level shortly before each payment.
Settings will be required to provide data through a form that will be sent out from DfE. This data will include work concluded during a defined period and other data to provide assurance that minimum requirements have been met monthly.
Details of what data we require will be released ahead of data collection.
3.2 Payment timetable
| Local authorities and their maintained schools | Academies | Non-maintained special schools | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payment 1 | October 2026 | November 2026 | October 2026 |
| Payment 2 | February 2027 | March 2027 | February 2027 |
| Payment 3 | May 2027 | June 2027 | May 2027 |
4. Permitted use of funding
Free breakfast club champions will be compensated for up to 2.5 days per month, excluding August where there will be no scheduled work or payments. This is a maximum time commitment and must not be exceeded. Where demand for support is low, champions may use less than the 2.5 days permitted per month.
The purpose for this payment is to backfill the headteacher or a senior leader to provide support to new schools on the programme. We envisage that up to:
- 2 days per month will be spent on active support
- 0.5 days per month will be spent on administration
A headteacher or senior leader may delegate some tasks to other staff however, these may not be claimed for concurrently. For example, a setting should not appoint 2 members of staff to run a one-hour meeting and then claim for 2 hours of work.
Other members of staff should only be used in lieu of a headteacher or senior leader, and only where appropriate.
5. Assurance
5.1 Records required
Free breakfast club champions will be asked to submit data monthly detailing time that has been spent:
- hosting meetings
- attending meetings
- completing feedback forms
- performing other tasks
Local authorities and settings are required to maintain and keep clear records of income and expenditure in relation to this grant, including evidence of the use of funds.
Records must be kept for 7 years and DfE may ask for these for audit and assurance purposes.