The newly published 2025 School Meals Report, produced by ParentPay in partnership with LACA, offers a sweeping view of how families across the UK perceive and interact with school meals. With insights from over 236,000 parents, covering all UK regions and types of schools — from state-funded to faith, SEN, and independent schools - it’s one of the largest and most comprehensive snapshots of the school food landscape to date.

Below we will dive into some key findings across three top issues: meal choices, Free School Meal (FSM) entitlement, and allergens and special diets.

School Meals vs Packed Lunches

While 53% of parents not eligible for FSM report their children eat school meals daily, another 36% opt for a hybrid mix of school meals and packed lunches. Only 11% rely solely on packed lunches. So why are some parents still choosing to pack meals from home?

Top reasons include:

• Children not liking school food choices (25%)
• Preference for home-packed taste (18%)
• Concerns about cost (21%)

Meanwhile, satisfaction is relatively strong: 93.4% of parents say their children get the meal they want most or some of the time, and the average satisfaction score for school meals sits at 3.7 out of 5.

Free School Meals Uptake

The number of children entitled to FSM continues to increase — up to 2.17 million in 2025, boosted by policy changes including the extension of FSM to all children in Universal Credit households by 2026 – leading to some interesting statistics this past year:

• 37% of children are now entitled to FSM or its equivalents (UIFSM/UPFSM)
• Wales (57.5%) and Scotland (53.1%) lead in FSM entitlement
• Only 29% of entitled children use FSMs 4–5 times per week
• Average parent satisfaction with FSM: 4.1 stars out of 5

Trends and feedback show barriers like stigma, lack of awareness, and administrative hurdles still affect uptake, with some children missing out despite eligibility.

Allergens and Special Diets

With 5–8% of UK children living with food allergies, schools must handle dietary needs with care. The report finds that:

• 95.7% of parents say their child has no food allergy
• Of those who do, 78% report no reactions at school but 14.3% report past allergic reactions to school meals
• Only 21.6% of parents know that their school provides allergen-accommodating menus
• 31.8% don’t know how allergen risks are managed, showing a clear communication gap

On dietary needs more broadly:

• 15% of children have special dietary requirements
• Most common: vegetarian (25.1%), vegan (6.2%), medical (6%), Halal (5.9%)

Parents rate schools’ allergen management at 4.1/5, but support for special diets slightly lower at 3.9/5, highlighting an area for attention.

The 2025 School Meals Report paints a picture of a system that’s functional, appreciated, and improving — but not without its problems. To drive higher uptake and parent confidence, the report suggests schools and caterers should:

• Invest in better menu variety and portion sizes, especially for older children
• Communicate more clearly about allergen and dietary management
• Leverage pre-order systems and mobile-friendly tech
• Consider incentive schemes and parental feedback loops like meal reviews

As the cost of living continues to squeeze household budgets, the role of school meals is more vital than ever — not just as nourishment, but as a foundation for learning, health, and equity.

 

Findings cited in this blog are taken from the 2025 School Meals Report, developed collaboratively by ParentPay and LACA – all due credit to them. A copy of this report can be requested at the following link:

https://www.parentpay.com/parentpaygroup/2025-school-meals-report/#:~:text=The%20most%20extensive%20school%20meals,key%20factors%20influencing%20parents'%20decisions