Chapter 130mj7b: School Lunch Prices on the Rise in England
As the new school year begins, parents across England find themselves facing a harsh reality: higher prices for school lunches. Caterers are pointing the finger at the government’s national insurance increase along with the escalating costs of food and energy.
The Metrics of Lunch Changes:
Current status: Providers of school lunches report a surge in staffing expenses, particularly because of the hikes in employer national insurance contributions. This has placed extra financial strain on their budgets.
Food price inflation has pushed the consumer prices up this summer, with rates for food and non-alcoholic drinks skyrocketing by 4.9% from the previous year, and now standing at 37% higher than they were five years ago.
Informed via Letter: In correspondence with parents, the strain on families is acknowledged, but the changes are touted as unavoidable for the survival of catering services.
Pricing Shifts Across Schools: Some Examples
Key changes include:
– Coleham primary, Shropshire: Meals have shot up by 10p to £2.60 in September of 2025 due to “increasing operational costs”.
– Bridge Hall primary, Stockport, Greater Manchester: Prices have risen by 8p, making meals £2.73—a 3.1% boost.
– Fernhurst Junior, Portsmouth: A daily meal rate of £2.86 will be the new norm.
– West Vale Academy, Halifax: £2.60 per meal.
– Kingskerswell Church of England primary school, Newton Abbott: Costs have been bumped by 30p to £2.75.
The Broader Picture: Moving Forward
The Government has pledged to broaden free meal eligibility from next year onwards, yet the schools maintain they are in dire need of financial support right now. Only a quarter of England’s school pupils presently qualify for free meals, but price hikes prove the Government’s £2.61-per-meal funding is inadequate, necessitating schools to cover the gaps.
Paul Whiteman, from the National Association of Head Teachers, lamented that prices and quality concerns are ample in schools where kids might only access nutritious meals. Judith Gregory, of LACA, representing caterers, states that without crucial funding elevation, the service must cater to fewer quality elements or introduce cost-reducing measures, leaving already strained families facing even stiffer charges.
Barbara Crowther of Sustain noted that the yardstick of a healthy, sustainable school meal suddenly sits at £3-£3.20, hinging on school and caterer scale.
The/storage/reflection]
Concern looms as to how the steadily increasing charges would predominantly cast practical hardship on low-income brackets, those flirting just beneath the free school meal threshold. Barbara Crowther of Sustain highlighted that unless something drastic swivels, child poverty and hunger will linger as pressing socio-economic issues.
“School bosses are greatly perturbed. The prospect of child hunger looms large—we’re observing increased family struggles and large swaths of children sliding into poverty.”
Schools cannot indefinitely absorb these rising costs, and price inflation has made it inevitable that the cost of school meals is on the up.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/aug/30/parents-england-pay-more-school-lunches-caterers-blame-rising-costs
