School Food Standards: updating the legislative framework

School food matters. A good meal or a nutritious breakfast can set a child up for the day - helping them to concentrate, learn, and thrive. That is why, as part of the government’s 10 Year Health Plan for England, we committed to updating the School Food Standards in England, to ensure that every child gets the good quality food they need that gives them the best start in life.  We want healthy, tasty school meals to be an enjoyable and familiar part of children’s time at school.

Too many children are not getting the nutritious food they need. The latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey shows children consume twice the recommended amount of free sugars, with only 8% of primary and 5% of secondary pupils meeting guidelines. Dental decay is the leading cause of hospital admissions for 5-9‑year‑olds.

More than 90% of children are consuming insufficient fibre, which is critical for digestive and heart health in later life. Over 10.5% of children aged 4-5 start school with obesity. By the end of primary school this rises to 22.2%, and to almost 30% in the most deprived areas. This is simply not good enough.

We know that school food provides a crucial source of daily nutrition and schools have a fundamental role in ensuring pupils are well nourished and supported to build healthy eating habits that will shape their futures. Parents want school meals to be healthier, too. According to polling by Chefs in Schools in 2025, 96% of parents said that their children’s meals should be made with fresh or nutritious ingredients and among those, 83% want the government to introduce stronger, enforceable standards across all schools.

That is why this government has made school food a priority. We are rolling out free breakfast clubs in every state-funded school with primary aged pupils in England, and from September 2026 we are extending free school meals to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit - providing over half a million more children from disadvantaged backgrounds access to a free, nutritious meal every school day, lifting 100,000 children out of poverty.

These are the biggest expansions in school food provision in a generation, ensuring we drive improvements in attainment, behaviour and outcomes, helping children get the best possible education and chance to succeed in life.

What children and young people eat at school is determined by The Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014 (otherwise known as the School Food Standards). While we know many schools are already delivering high quality, nutritious meals and take their food provision seriously, these regulations are out of date.

We are updating the regulations to align with the latest nutritional guidance. These standards will cover the whole school day, including a specific set of standards for breakfast.

These are changes that respond directly to what parents, health experts, and the food sector have been telling us for years.

It means increasing fibre by ensuring schools offer more wholegrains, vegetables, pulses and fruit across meals and snacks. It means reducing sugar by limiting sweetened breakfast items, desserts and drinks, and by lowering the added sugar content of everyday menu options. It means restricting foods that are higher in fat, sugar and salt, such as deep-fried items, processed meats, confectionery and savoury snacks, and ensuring these appear less often or in controlled portions.

For secondary schools, we propose phasing in some of these changes to give schools and caterers more time to adapt.

We want school food to work for every child. It must be flexible enough to meet the needs of children with special educational needs and disabilities, those with allergies and intolerances, and those from different cultural and religious backgrounds.

Inclusive menus are central to what we are proposing, and we want to hear from families, schools, and specialists as part of this consultation to make sure we get this right.

We are also proposing to remove the reduced set of lunch standards (schedule 5) that currently applies to maintained nursery schools and nursery units within primary schools. This will mean that these early years settings will follow the Early Years Foundation Stage nutrition guidance when considering their meals service.

Schools must comply with the School Food Standards to make sure that children get the healthy meals they deserve. These updated standards are not about making that job harder - they are about giving the whole school food community a clear, modern framework to work to, with the support needed to make it happen.

We are proposing separate standards for breakfast (before school) and the school day (including lunch service). This reflects these services often being carried out by separate caterers and allows flexibility where secondary schools can continue to provide healthy grab and go items at their mid-morning break service. We want to understand what will help schools meet these standards and what further support the government can offer.

Governing bodies play a central role in shaping the quality and nutritional value of school meals, and the Department for Education recommends they work with senior leaders to develop a whole school food policy covering food provision, food education, the role of the catering team and plans to increase lunch take-up.

We are proposing schools appoint a lead governor for school food and publish their food policies and menus online, which would strengthen accountability and improve compliance.

Throughout this entire process, we will continue working closely with schools to identify the guidance they need to meet higher standards. We will also work alongside Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as it develops a new food strategy to ensure the food on children’s plates is good quality, accessible and affordable.

To deliver meaningful and lasting change, these reforms must work for everyone involved in school food: children and young people, parents and carers, schools and governors, and the chefs, cooks and caterers who work tirelessly to nourish growing children and who bring these standards to life every day.

That is why we are launching this consultation to seek as wide a range of views as possible. We are committed to engaging openly with all of these groups to ensure the mandatory standards are practical, inclusive and supportive of a whole school approach to healthy eating. By working together, we can create a food system in schools that supports children’s wellbeing, reflects local needs, and empowers every child to thrive. We want to build these improvements collaboratively so that they are workable, sustainable and make a real difference to children’s lives.