Breakfast clubs can boost the reading, writing and maths results of the children who attend them, whether or not they actually eat breakfast, a new study has found.

In addition, the existence of breakfast clubs helps boost the achievement of those children who do not attend them, by ensuring that overall classroom behaviour is more conducive to learning.

A new trial, conducted by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), introduced breakfast clubs to 86,000 pupils in 106 primary schools with higher than average numbers of disadvantaged pupils.

The study found that Year 2 children in schools with a breakfast club made two months’ additional progress in reading, writing and maths, compared with a similar group whose schools did not offer breakfast clubs.

Educational and nutritional benefits

But the results found that all children who attended the breakfast club - regardless of whether or not they actually ate breakfast there - showed academic improvement. The researchers therefore concluded that the social and educational benefits of the breakfast club could be as valuable as the nutritional benefits provided by the breakfast itself.

In addition, the researchers reported that pupils’ concentration and behaviour improved as a result of attending the breakfast clubs. This suggested that the clubs could improve outcomes for all children, whether or not they attend the clubs, by creating better classroom environments.

‘Improved dramatically’

Sam Bailey, principal of the Forest Academy in Barnsley, which was among the schools participating in the trial, said: “Pupil behaviour has improved dramatically, and attitudes to learning are the best they’ve ever been. We are blessed with alert, enthusiastic, determined and hard-working pupils, who are ready to learn.”

The EEF therefore suggested that there would be benefits to introducing a free, universal breakfast club for all pupils. Or, it said, schools might consider the effectiveness of introducing a breakfast club when examining their own spending priorities.

Sir Kevan Collins, chief executive of the Education Endowment Foundation, said: “The fact that there are children who will go to school hungry today is a national scandal. Offering free breakfasts at school is a relatively cheap and straightforward way of alleviating this symptom of disadvantage.”

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