Overview

• Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson confirmed the next wave as the start of a national rollout tied to Labour’s 2024 manifesto pledge.
• Schools can apply now, with the first new cohort joining in April and a further intake in September, according to the Department for Education’s plans reported by the Mirror.
• The trial that began after Easter covered 750 primaries and about 180,000 pupils, with more than two million breakfasts served to date.
• Head teachers’ union NAHT backed the principle but pressed the government to address funding levels, staffing capacity and space constraints, urging lessons from the pilot to be applied.
• Ministers say families could save up to £450 a year in childcare costs, and Phillipson has set an ambition for clubs to be in all primaries by the end of the Parliament.