Early adopter free breakfast clubs take-up: first half of the summer term 2025
Published 29 June 2025
Applies to England
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In February 2025, it was announced that 750 schools will offer free, daily breakfast clubs across England to all pupils from the start of summer term 2025.
This document provides estimates of the proportion of children attending early adopter free breakfast clubs in the first half of the summer term 2025. It also provides an indication of the number of breakfasts served.
Proportion of children attending early adopter free breakfast clubs
In May 2025, 47% of school leaders delivering early adopter free breakfast clubs reported that pupil take-up was between 20% and 40%. 35% of respondents reported below 20% take-up, and 18% of respondents reported over 40%.
This is based on 518 survey responses from headteachers or free breakfast club leads, gathered between 13 and 23 May 2025.
Table 1: Reported pupil take-up of early adopter free breakfast clubs on average each day in the first half of the summer term 2025.
| Estimated pupil take-up | Proportion of respondents |
|---|---|
| Less than 20% | 35% |
| Between 20% and 40% | 47% |
| Between 41% and 60% | 12% |
| Between 61% and 80% | 4% |
| Over 80% | 2% |
Indicative estimate of the number of breakfasts served
Combining estimates of the number of early adopter schools, the average number of pupils per school, the median take-up rate, and the number of days that the clubs have been active can give an indication of the reach of the programme.
For example, as of 29 June 2025, assuming 750 schools taking part in the programme for 43 days, an average number of pupils per school of 250 and a take-up rate of 30%, leads to an indicative estimate of over 2 million free breakfasts served. This is not based on child-level data and there is uncertainty in this indicative number due to the national assumptions of schools, pupils and take up.
Data sources
We gathered estimates of pupil take-up of early adopter free breakfast clubs via a wider online survey to all early adopter school leaders, as part of the ongoing evaluation of the early adopter scheme. We used the midpoint (30%) of the most common take-up banding (20% to 40%) to estimate the number of breakfasts served.
Data underpinning the average number of pupils per school is available in the school level underlying data for school, pupils and their characteristics, 2024 to 2025. This is the average number of primary school aged children in state funded primary schools, state funded special schools, state funded alternative provision schools, and non-maintained special schools.
Assumptions and limitations
We asked survey respondents to estimate approximate pupil take-up in bandings. We are collecting data on the number of pupils participating in the scheme over the summer and we will release more accurate estimates of pupil take-up over the summer term later this year.
As set out above, the estimate of the number of free breakfasts served is based on broad national assumptions of schools, pupils and take-up. It is assumed that free breakfast clubs in early adopter schools have been active since the start of the summer term; for most schools this was 22 April 2025.