3p rise in free school meal funding "disappointing"

The Department for Education (DfE) has announced a 3p rise for free school meals funding for academic year 2025 to 2026, which critics say is disappointing and will have a negative effect on school budgets.

The meal rate for both universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) and further education free meals will rise from £2.58 to £2.61.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “This disappointing below-inflation increase will still leave many schools having to subsidise free school meals from budgets already seriously stretched after years of real-terms funding cuts under previous governments.

“School Food Matters, which runs food education programmes in schools, has estimated that it now costs £3.16 to provide a hot meal.

“Suppliers sometimes pass on increased costs of producing meals and school leaders are caught between a rock and a hard place. They don’t want to compromise on the quality of food provided, but that may mean having to cut spending on other things which may affect children’s learning.

“We urge the government to look carefully at the actual costs of providing meals and make sure these are fully covered in the funding schools receive."