Warning over 3p increase for free school meals

Derbyshire head teacher Paula Martin called the government's funding for free school meals "quite concerning"

A head teacher has warned a new government settlement could force schools to make less nutritious meals.

Schoolchildren up to Year Two in England are eligible to receive free school meals but this year the grant given by the Department for Education (DfE) to schools for the lunches is increasing by 1.2% - the equivalent of 3p per meal.

Paula Martin, head teacher of Firs Primary School in Derby and Stanley Common Primary School in Ilkeston, said the rise is not enough and the quality of food would suffer as a result.

The DfE said the government was "mission-driven to break the unfair link between background and opportunity" in schools.

In England, free lunches are given to all children in reception, Year One and Year Two at state-funded primary schools

Ms Martin said: "For small schools like Stanley Common there is no money that we can absorb costs with, so the only way is to reduce the meals cost, which means reducing the quality or the choice that the children have.

"It's quite concerning because we want to make sure children have the best, healthiest food they can."

For larger schools, like Firs Primary School, which has 180 pupils in Year Two and below, Ms Martin said there was more flexibility to absorb the costs in other areas of the school budget.

However, she said this created compromises elsewhere.

"The other areas of the budget should be for teaching and learning," she added.

The government will increase the amount of money it gives to schools by 3p per meal in the next academic year

In England, free lunches are offered to children from reception to Year Two at state-funded schools.

Currently, schools receive a grant of £2.58 per meal from the government, which will increase to £2.61 for the 2025-26 academic year.

However, food prices rose by 3% in the 12 months to March 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics, and the British Retail Consortium has predicted food inflation will reach 5% later this year.

Ms Martin said schools are also facing increased costs from increased National Insurance contributions announced by the chancellor in the October budget.

She said: "Something has to give. You can't just keep the same quality, the same standards, with less money. It's not possible."

Budgets squeezed

Graham Lobb, head teacher of St John Fisher Catholic Voluntary Academy in Derby, described the government's meal rate as "unrealistic".

He estimates it currently costs his school £12,500 per year to subsidise the money given by the government for free school meals.

"That is about 50% of the wages of a teaching assistant," he said.

Mr Lobb said budgets for subjects like IT, art and drama could be squeezed to make up the shortfall.

"There are resources that we'd like to buy for the school which we can't afford because we are subsidising the cost of the free school meals," he said.

Chelsea said it was important to her that her children receive healthy meals at school

Chelsea, 31, a parent at Firs Primary School, said the price of her food shop had increased in recent years.

"With the prices skyrocketing it's put a lot of pressure on parents," she added.

"Even things that are healthy are so much more expensive than the junk food."

Chelsea said this made it all the more important to know her children were getting "a healthy, balanced meal with a lot of fruit in" at school and described the grant increase as "concerning".

Srujana said the price of her food shop had become "very high" in the last three years

Srujana, 36, a software engineer, said her children love the meals at the school.

She added: "It helps them to grow physically, mentally."

Srujana said she had noticed the price of her weekly shop had increased significantly in recent years and that she relied on her children receiving nutritious meals at school.

"I am also working a lot so I can't handle making all of [the children's meals] at one go."

The government estimates it spends a total of £1.5bn per year on free school meals.

This includes lunches for 1.3m infants, as well as for 2.1m older pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.

A DfE spokesperson said: "This government is mission-driven to break the unfair link between background and opportunity, and we have already taken action to tackle the challenges felt by families who are struggling.

"We have tripled our investment in free breakfast clubs to over £30m, with 750 early adopter schools offering free meals and childcare from this month, ensuring children are ready to learn.

"We are also continuing to fund free lunches for over 3m pupils, while taking tough decisions to fix the foundations of the economy, deliver growth and rebuild Britain."