The Department encourages a healthy balanced diet and healthy life choices through school funding, legislation and guidance. Schools are encouraged to have a whole school approach to healthy eating through the National Curriculum and school food provision.

The standards for school food are set out in the Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014. These regulations are designed to ensure that schools provide pupils with healthy food and drink options, and to make sure that pupils have the energy and nutrition they need throughout the school day.

1.9 million of the most disadvantaged pupils are eligible for and are claiming a free, healthy and nutritious school meal. An additional 1.25 million infants enjoy a free meal at lunchtime, following the introduction of Universal Infant Free School Meals.

The School Fruit and Vegetables Scheme also provides over 2.2 million pupils in Reception and Key Stage 1 with a portion of fresh fruit or vegetables each day at school. Schools are encouraged to use this as an opportunity to educate pupils on the benefits of a healthy, balanced diet.

The importance of a healthy diet is also included in the science curriculum for both primary and secondary school. Healthy eating is covered through topics relating to nutrition and digestion, which cover the content of a healthy diet and the impact of diet on how the body functions.

The relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance states that by the end of primary school, pupils should know what constitutes a healthy diet (including understanding nutritional content), the principles of planning and preparing a range of healthy meals, the characteristics of a poor diet, and the risks associated with unhealthy eating. By the end of secondary school pupils should know how to maintain a healthy diet and understand the links between a poor diet and health risks.

Healthy eating and opportunities to develop pupils’ cooking skills are covered in the design and technology (DT) curriculum. Cooking and nutrition is a discrete strand of the DT curriculum and is compulsory in maintained schools for Key Stages 1 to 3. The curriculum aims to teach pupils how to cook and how to apply the principles of healthy eating and nutrition. The Department has also introduced a new food preparation and nutrition GCSE to provide pupils with practical cookery experience and teach them the underlying scientific concepts of nutrition and healthy eating.

The Healthy Schools Rating Scheme celebrates the positive actions that schools are delivering in terms of healthy living, healthy eating and physical activity, and supports schools in identifying further actions that they can take in this area. This voluntary rating scheme is available for both primary and secondary schools.

The current School Food Standards provide a robust yet flexible framework to ensure pupils in England continue to receive high quality and nutritious food. The Department continues to keep the School Food Standards under review.

The Department recognises the cost pressures that some schools and suppliers may be facing. The Department is holding regular meetings with other Government Departments and with food industry representatives, covering a variety of issues including public sector food supplies.

Following the 2022 Autumn Statement, schools will receive an additional £2 billion in each of the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years. The core schools’ budget, which covers schools’ day-to-day running costs, including schools’ energy bills and the costs of providing income-related free school meals (FSM), has risen from £49.8 billion in 2021/22 to £53.8 billion in 2022/23 and will continue to rise to £57.3 billion in 2023/24 and £58.8 billion in 2024/25. By 2024/25, funding per pupil will have risen to its highest ever level in real terms. These increases provide support to schools to deal with the impact of inflation on their budgets.

The Department is continuing to review funding to ensure that schools continue to be able to provide healthy and nutritious meals in schools. The funding for the FSM factor is increasing by 2.4% for 2023/24, in line with the latest available Gross Domestic Product deflator forecast when the National Funding Formula was published in July 2022.

Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) are funded through a direct grant to schools. In June 2022, the Government announced an increase to the per pupil meal rate in UIFSM to £2.41. This was backdated, recognising the cost pressures schools and some suppliers may be experiencing.

The standards for school food are set out in the requirements for school food regulations 2014 and are designed to ensure that schools provide children with healthy food and drink options, and to make sure that children get the energy and nutrition they need throughout the school day. Schools also have flexibility under the Standards to substitute food and regularly update and change menus. They may make changes if ingredients or meals are not readily available.

Schools are responsible for the provision of school meals and most contract with private sector caterers to manage this on their behalf. It is for schools and caterers to decide what is an appropriate portion and to balance the food served across the school week. Guidance to accompany the School Food Standards includes guidance on portion sizes and food groups.

The standards for school food are set out in the Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014. These regulations are designed to ensure that schools provide pupils with healthy food and drink options, and to make sure that pupils have the energy and nutrition they need throughout the school day.

The Department believes the current standards provide a robust yet flexible framework to ensure that pupils in England continue to receive high quality and nutritious food, that builds healthy eating habits for life. The standards remain under review.

The Standards for school food are set out in the Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014 and are designed to ensure that schools provide children with healthy food and drink options, and to make sure that children receive the energy and nutrition they need throughout the school day. Schools have flexibility under the Standards to substitute food and regularly update and change menus. They may make changes if ingredients or meals are not readily available. There is no legal requirement that meals should be hot, but the Department expects all schools to routinely be offering a varied hot meal option to pupils.

The Department recognises the pressures that some schools and suppliers may be facing due to rising costs. The Department is holding regular meetings with other Government Departments and with food industry representatives on a variety of issues, including public sector food supplies.

This issue should be seen in the wider context of funding for schools. After the National Funding Formula (NFF) rates were set, the Department received additional funding from HM Treasury for core schools funding in 2022/2023, in recognition of cost pressures, which has been distributed through a schools supplementary grant.

Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) are funded through a direct grant to schools. In June 2022, the Government announced an increase of £2.41 per pupil in UIFSM funding. Ordinarily, the new funding rates take effect from the start of the academic year. The Department recognises that schools are under cost pressures and some suppliers may have been forced to increase prices and so these increases have been backdated.

The Chancellor set out in his Autumn Statement that schools will receive additional funding in both 2023/24 and 2024/25. This brings the core schools budget to a total of £58.8 billion in 2024/25, which is £2 billion greater than published in 2021. This £2 billion is new money, over and above what had been previously committed.

The School Food Standards regulate the food and drink provided by schools. Compliance with the Standards is mandatory for all maintained schools, including academies and free schools.

The Government spends over £1 billion annually delivering free school meals (FSM) to pupils in schools. Around 1.9 million disadvantaged pupils are eligible for FSM, as well as an additional 1.25 million infants who receive a free meal under the Universal Infant Free School Meal (UIFSM) policy. Together, this provides support to over one third of all pupils in schools.

Schools also provide children in Key Stage 1 with a free piece of fruit or vegetable each day through the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme, jointly funded by the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education.

In February 2022, the Levelling Up White Paper outlined what the Department is doing to strengthen adherence with the School Food Standards. This includes piloting work with the Food Standards Agency, investing up to £200,000 in a pilot Governor Training Scheme, and encouraging schools to complete a statement on their school websites which sets out their whole school approach to food.

The Department is investing up to £30 million in the national school breakfast programme until the end of the 2024 summer term. This funding will support up to 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas, meaning that thousands of children from low income families will be offered free, nutritious breakfasts. The Department is also investing over £200 million a year in the Holiday Activities and Food programme, which provides free holiday club places with healthy meals and enriching activities to children from low income families.

The National Curriculum sets the expectation that pupils are taught about the importance of healthy eating and nutrition. This is covered in the design and technology curriculum in Key Stages 1 to 3. The principles of a healthy and varied diet are also covered in health education, which became compulsory in state funded schools in England from September 2020.

Since September 2015, Ofsted inspectors look at how a school’s curriculum supports pupils’ knowledge on how to keep themselves healthy, including through exercising and healthy eating. The Department has also introduced a new food preparation and nutrition GCSE to teach pupils practical cookery and the underlying scientific concepts of nutrition and healthy eating.

The Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework (EYFS) sets the standards that all early years providers must meet for the learning, development and care of children from birth to age five. There is a requirement within the EYFS that states where children are provided with meals, snacks and drinks, they must be healthy, balanced and nutritious. It is up to early years providers to ensure they are meeting this requirement.

The standards for school food are set out in the Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014, to ensure that schools provide children with healthy food and drink options, and to make sure that children gain the energy and nutrition they need across the school day.

The Department believes that the current standards provide a robust yet flexible framework to ensure that pupils in the UK continue to receive high quality and nutritious food, building healthy eating habits for life.

The Department’s current focus is on promoting compliance with the School Food Standards and this will be kept under review. In February 2022, the Levelling Up White Paper outlined what the Department is doing to strengthen adherence, including piloting work with the Foods Standards Agency, investing up to £200,000 in a pilot Governor Training Scheme, and encouraging schools to complete a statement on their school websites setting out their whole school approach to food.

All schools are required to teach a balanced and broad curriculum that helps provide young people with knowledge, skills and understanding to prepare them to play a full and active part in society.

The National Curriculum requires maintained schools to teach children about food, nutrition, healthy eating and how to cook a repertoire of dishes as part of design and technology. The science curriculum requires pupils to be taught about the principles of a healthy and varied diet and its impact on the way our bodies work. The national curriculum can be used as a benchmark for Free Schools and Academies.

The Department does not prescribe how many hours schools should teach of any subject and believe that individual schools are best placed to decide this for themselves.

State-funded schools are held to account for the standard of education they deliver through the data published in the school performance tables, and through inspection. As part of an inspection, Ofsted will consider whether the school is providing a broad and balanced curriculum that meets the needs of pupils and prepares them for adult life. The new national curriculum, which came into effect in 2014, sought to strengthen education in state-funded schools, including the teaching of health and nutrition and personal finance matters.

In the new National Curriculum we strengthened the teaching of nutrition, the impact of diet on health and practical cooking skills through our reform to the curriculum. In September 2016 we introduced a new GCSE in food preparation and nutrition that requires pupils to acquire an understanding of the scientific principles behind food and nutrition. This new GCSE will be assessed for the first time in summer 2018.

We have made significant changes to the National Curriculum – and the new mathematics and citizenship GCSE subject content – to integrate financial capability. The new GCSEs in these subjects will be assessed for the first time in summer 2017.

Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education is a non-statutory subject that can encompass many areas of study. It equips pupils with the knowledge and skills to make safe and informed decisions, and to prepare for life in modern Britain. Schools should seek to use PSHE education to build, where appropriate, on the statutory content already outlined in the National Curriculum, the basic school curriculum and in statutory guidance. This includes support for teaching on financial education, and the importance of physical activity and diet for a healthy lifestyle.