A charity is calling for an urgent £28 million funding boost for school breakfasts in Scotland after finding that the government has the best plan of any UK nation to tackle hunger in schools - but also the greatest current gaps in provision.

A survey of 1,411 Scottish schools, carried out by education charity Magic Breakfast, has found that 41 per cent have no breakfast provision - and that a quarter of those that offer food in the morning charge for it, with the charges ranging from 20p to £6.

In the schools that charged, over half offered some free provision. But the charity found this was usually “provided on an ad hoc basis at the discretion of staff” and “often capped”.

It also found that uptake of breakfast provision in Scotland was the lowest of any UK nation, with an average of 22 pupils per school per day taking up the offer.

Magic Breakfast told Tes Scotland that it works with 36 Scottish schools and the average uptake across its partner schools is 105 pupils per day.

Now, the charity is calling on the Scottish government to invest in school breakfasts in primary and special schools. It estimates that this will cost £28 million to deliver and says the money “should be allocated from unspent PEF [Pupil Equity Fund]”.

• Flashback to March 2021: Free meals for all primary pupils will be phased in by August 2022
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• Wales: £25m invested as Wales moves towards free meals in primary
• Also this week: Parties’ key education manifesto pledges for 2022 Scottish council elections

Figures published in January show that around £43.5 million of PEF cash was unspent by schools last year, in 2020-21.

Magic Breakfast wants councils to act now and “map and fill gaps in the areas of highest disadvantage with the least provision”.

In its manifesto for the Scottish Parliament elections in May 2021, the SNP pledged to “provide free school breakfasts and lunches to every primary school pupil in Scotland, all year round, and for all children in state-funded special schools in Scotland”.

The manifesto also said that longer-term, the SNP would “pilot the provision of free nutritious school breakfasts in secondary schools” in a bid to “explore the feasibility of universal breakfast provision in secondary schools”, promises that have been reiterated in its manifesto for next week’s local council elections.

Currently, in Scotland, pupils in the first five years of primary school benefit from free lunches - but the government rolled back on its promise to extend free school meals to all primary pupils in time for the start of the 2022-23 school year, and has yet to set a new delivery date.

Lindsey MacDonald, chief executive at Magic Breakfast, said: “The Hidden Hunger report exposes the lottery of school breakfast funding and provision in Scotland and the impact that this has on children and young people’s learning and life chances.

“There is an opportunity for Scotland to move from patchy provision to having the best school food policy of any nation, improving and tackling the inequality of education and attainment.

“Breakfast provision is proven to boost grades, improve attendance and, importantly, acts as one additional way to alleviate the cost-of-living crisis facing Scottish families.”

However, Magic Breakfast also warns that traditional breakfast clubs, run before the start of the school day, can fail to reach the pupils who need the provision most because they are unable to attend school early enough. Other models it recommends include classroom breakfasts, where pupils come to class 15 minutes before the start of the day and eat breakfast at their classroom tables, or “grab and go” where pupils can pick up pre-prepared food on their way to class.

The charity also recommends making provision for pupils who arrive late to “top up” the main breakfast model.

It says: “One of the biggest risks of the traditional breakfast club model is that it can lead to complacency. Schools can develop a ‘mission accomplished’ mindset, which can be detrimental to the long term success of the provision. Schools need to continually target those most at risk of hunger for any provision to be successful.”

Magic Breakfast aims to ensure no child in its partner schools is too hungry to learn - it provides healthy breakfast food and expert support to help identify and reach pupils at risk of hunger.

A primary school in Scotland qualifies for Magic Breakfast support when at least 55 per cent of pupils live in the 40 per cent most disadvantaged areas of the country and/or at least 35 per cent are eligible for free school meals. A secondary qualifies for support when at least 40 per cent of pupils live in the 40 per cent most disadvantaged areas.

A Scottish government spokesman said no child should be going hungry at school and that the government had introduced universal free school lunches for pupils in P1 to P5 and had committed to extending this to all primary and state-funded special school pupils “during this parliament”.

He added: “We are also committed to developing plans to offer free breakfasts to all primary and special school children and we will be looking at current provision and how to extend that.”