Updated School Food Standards: What Schools Need to Know

The Department for Education, working with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, is consulting on proposed updates to the School Food Standards in England. These changes represent one of the most significant updates to school food requirements for more than a decade and are intended to improve child nutrition, increase consistency across schools and strengthen accountability for the food served during the school day.

The current School Food Standards are based on the Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014. The government has stated that these standards are now out of date and no longer fully aligned with current nutritional advice. The proposed changes focus on increasing fibre, reducing sugar, limiting foods high in fat, salt and sugar and ensuring pupils have access to healthier food and drink across the whole school day, including breakfast, breaktime, lunchtime and after-school provision up to 6pm.

Why are the standards being updated?

The government has highlighted concerns around children’s diets, including excess sugar consumption, low fibre intake, childhood obesity and dental decay. The consultation document states that children are consuming twice the recommended amount of free sugars, while more than 90% are not consuming enough fibre. School food is therefore being positioned as an important part of improving children’s health, wellbeing, concentration and long-term eating habits.

The Department for Education has also confirmed that free school meals will be extended from September 2026 to all children from households receiving Universal Credit, making the quality and consistency of school meals even more important for schools and caterers.

Key proposed changes

The proposals are wide-ranging and will affect both primary and secondary schools. The main areas of change include:

More vegetables, fruit, wholegrains and pulses
Schools would be expected to increase fibre across menus and improve the variety of plant-based foods offered. This includes offering vegetables or salad with all main meal options, ensuring all desserts or second courses contain or are accompanied by at least one portion of fruit, and providing at least three different fruits each week. In primary schools, fruit would also need to be the only available dessert option on at least one day each week. The proposals also include using more wholegrain or higher-fibre bread, rice and pasta, and incorporating pulses, such as chickpeas, beans or lentils, within or alongside menu options.

Reduced sugar across the school day
The proposed standards would further restrict sweetened baked products, desserts, fruit juice, combination drinks, added sugar, honey and syrups. In primary schools, the permitted drinks list would be significantly tightened, with a focus on water, plain milk and specified unsweetened fortified plant-based drinks.

No deep-fried foods
Deep-fried foods would no longer be permitted. The proposals also include tighter controls on processed meat, batter-coated items, cheese-based main dishes, condiments, spreads, yoghurts and snack provision. Snacks outside meal services would be limited to fruit, vegetables, plain savoury crackers and breadsticks with no added salt, sugar or fat.

New breakfast standards
The updated standards would introduce a separate set of requirements for breakfast provision before the school day. This is particularly relevant given the wider rollout of breakfast clubs and the fact that breakfast services may be delivered separately from the main lunch catering contract.

Greater transparency and governance
The consultation proposes that schools appoint a lead governor with responsibility for school food. It also proposes that schools should publish their food policy and menus on their websites, helping pupils, parents, governors and trustees understand the school’s approach to healthy food and drink.

Proposed implementation timeline

The consultation opened on 13 April 2026 and closes on 12 June 2026. The government response is expected to be published in September 2026.

From September 2027, the proposed new standards would take full effect for primary schools. Most changes for secondary schools would also begin from this date.

From September 2028, further phased requirements would apply to secondary schools. These include the introduction of the healthier drinks list, increased requirements for pulses, tighter restrictions on cheese-based main dishes, and further limits on sweetened baked products and desserts.

Schools that are ready may begin adopting the new standards before September 2027 and the Department for Education has indicated that early adoption will be welcomed and supported.

What should schools do now?

Although the standards are currently subject to consultation, schools should begin reviewing their existing food provision and catering arrangements. This should include checking current menus against the proposed requirements, identifying dishes that may need to be reformulated or replaced, reviewing breakfast and breaktime provision, and ensuring that governors and senior leaders understand their responsibilities.

Schools should also consider the practical implications for their catering teams and contractors. These changes may affect menu planning, food purchasing, pupil choice, kitchen production methods, staff knowledge, contract monitoring and communication with parents. In secondary schools, particular attention should be given to drinks, desserts, grab-and-go items, meal deals and popular cheese-based or sweetened options.

For schools with outsourced catering contracts, it will be important to discuss the proposed changes with the catering provider at an early stage. Contract caterers should be able to demonstrate how they plan to adapt menus, maintain uptake, support pupils with special dietary requirements and provide clear evidence of compliance.

Nansen Green Catering Consultancy comment

The proposed updates are a positive step towards improving the nutritional quality of food served in schools. However, successful implementation will depend on practical, well-managed menu planning, a clear understanding of how the standards apply across the whole school day and careful consideration of kitchen production capacity.

Schools will need to balance compliance with pupil acceptance, operational practicality and financial pressures. Removing or restricting familiar items, particularly deep-fried foods, without careful planning could affect meal uptake and place additional pressure on kitchen teams. This is especially relevant where existing catering equipment has been designed around current menus and production methods. The successful removal of deep-fried foods may require a review of existing catering equipment, production flow, oven capacity, holding capacity and preparation space to ensure kitchens can continue to produce appealing, compliant meals efficiently.

The most successful approach will be to introduce healthier options gradually, engage pupils and parents, train catering teams appropriately and monitor food quality and participation closely.

Nansen Green Catering Consultancy can support schools with menu reviews, School Food Standards compliance audits, catering contract monitoring, governor reporting and practical implementation planning ahead of the proposed September 2027 and September 2028 deadlines. This includes reviewing kitchen production capacity and advising on any catering equipment changes required to support compliant menu delivery, including the removal of deep-fried food from school menus.