Food banks in schools in England

Abstract This article investigates the number and distribution of food banks in schools in England. Drawing on a novel source of nationally representative data, we show that one in five schools operate a food bank. This amounts to over 4000 school‐based food banks across the country. This important finding shows that there are now more food banks inside schools than outside of them. Our analysis, using responses from representative Teacher Tapp data ( n = 8665 teachers) also shows that whilst food banks are found in primary and secondary schools across the whole of England, they are disproportionally found in schools with high numbers of socio‐economically disadvantaged children. 1 in 3 such schools now run a food bank. We identify regional differences in the proportion of schools that run a food bank. The large numbers of school‐based food banks suggest that they are rapidly becoming a commonplace response to how schools support families experiencing food insecurity and poverty. Our findings highlight the need for debate about the extent of child food insecurity in England and the development of effective policymaking with regard to food aid in schools.