School catering tenders: how to win a school meals contract

Schools, academy trusts and councils all buy school catering in England, and they buy it in different ways. Some run their own tenders, some buy through Department for Education (DfE) approved frameworks, and some are covered by a council contract. Whoever buys, food in state-funded schools generally has to meet the School Food Standards, and updated standards are due to apply from September 2027, subject to Parliamentary approval. This guide covers what a caterer needs to know to bid.

Who buys school catering

• Individual schools and academy trusts can run their own procurement or buy through a framework.
• Councils may let catering contracts covering many maintained schools in their area. See our guide to council tenders.
• Frameworks: DfE's Get help buying for schools service lists DfE-approved frameworks for catering. They include ESPO's Outsourced Catering Services – Education (Lot 1), which expires on 31 August 2028, and a Procurement Services framework for catering, vending machines and water cooler solutions.

To get onto a framework, you bid when the framework provider runs its competition. Once a school buys through a framework, there may be no separate public tender for you to answer.

The School Food Standards, and what changes in 2027

DfE's School Food Standards collection says compliance with the standards is a legal requirement for state-funded schools. The Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014 set out the standards for food and drink provided to pupils on school premises. The regulations apply directly to maintained schools and pupil referral units. Academies and free schools are bound through their funding agreements: DfE said in June 2014 that academies set up before 2010, and those set up from June 2014 onwards, have a clause requiring them to follow the standards, while academies founded between 2010 and June 2014 had no such clause and were encouraged to follow them voluntarily.

Subject to Parliamentary approval, updated standards will take effect from September 2027. DfE says schools should discuss the changes with their catering provider and review their menus, contracts and procurement arrangements. So expect schools to ask how you'll meet the updated standards, especially on contracts that run past September 2027.

What schools check in a catering bid

Read the specification for each of these:

• Menus: how your menus meet the School Food Standards now, and how you'll update them.
• Allergens: the Food Standards Agency's allergen guidance says only 14 allergens must be declared by food law. For food that isn't prepacked, you must be able to give allergen information for every item that contains any of them.
• Food hygiene: the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme runs from 5 ("hygiene standards are very good") to 0 ("urgent improvement is required"), and covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Check what rating, if any, the buyer asks for.
• Buying standards: central government departments must meet the minimum mandatory Government Buying Standards for food and catering. Defra encourages the wider public sector to specify them in tenders, so a school or council may too.
• Social value and carbon: see our guides to social value in tenders and carbon reduction plans.
• Staff: if you're taking over from another caterer, TUPE may apply to the staff doing the work.

Where school catering tenders are advertised

Look on Find a Tender and Contracts Finder, on councils' and trusts' own procurement portals, and with the framework providers. Notices for procurements still under the 2015 rules move off Contracts Finder from 1 May 2027 (SI 2026/746). Smaller contracts for a single school may not be advertised at all: see low-value council contracts.

From our own count of the public data, for catering as a whole:

• Find a Tender carried an average of 31.5 catering tender notices a month from 1 September to 28 October 2026. An average of 7 a month had a stated value under £500,000.
• Contracts Finder recorded 31 catering contract awards from 1 July to 28 October 2026. 10 of them (32%) went to SMEs.
• On Find a Tender award notices for catering published from 1 September to 28 October 2026 that reported a bid count (31 lots), the median was 2 bids.

Our guide to catering tenders in the UK covers the wider public catering market.

Questions

How do I get a school catering contract?

Find out how the schools you want to work with buy: their own tender, a council contract or a DfE-approved framework. Then bid when the tender or framework competition opens, showing how you'll meet the School Food Standards, including the updated standards from September 2027.

What are the School Food Standards?

They're the standards for food and drink provided to pupils on school premises, set out in the Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014. DfE says compliance is a legal requirement for state-funded schools. Updated standards take effect from September 2027, subject to Parliamentary approval.

Do academies have to follow the School Food Standards?

Most do, but through their funding agreement rather than directly. The Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014 apply directly to maintained schools. DfE said in June 2014 that academies set up before 2010, and academies and free schools set up from June 2014 onwards, have a funding agreement clause requiring them to follow the standards, while academies founded between 2010 and June 2014 had no such clause and were encouraged to follow them voluntarily. Check the trust's funding agreement, the specification and the trust's own food policy.

Where are school catering tenders advertised?

On Find a Tender and Contracts Finder, on councils' and trusts' own portals, and through framework providers. DfE's Get help buying for schools service lists approved catering frameworks, including ESPO's Outsourced Catering Services – Education (Lot 1).

What food hygiene rating do schools ask for?

It varies, so check each specification. The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme runs from 5, "hygiene standards are very good", to 0, "urgent improvement is required", and covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

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Sources

• GOV.UK: School food standards collection (DfE; read 31 October 2026)
• GOV.UK: Standards for school food in England (DfE; read 31 October 2026)
• GOV.UK: New school food standards (DfE news story, 17 June 2014; read 31 October 2026), for which academies are bound through their funding agreement
• The Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014, SI 2014/1603 (read 31 October 2026)
• Get help buying for schools: catering and Outsourced Catering Services – Education (Lot 1) (DfE; read 31 October 2026)
• GOV.UK: Allergen guidance for food businesses (Food Standards Agency; read 31 October 2026)
• GOV.UK: Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (Food Standards Agency; read 31 October 2026)
• GOV.UK: Sustainable procurement, the GBS for food and catering services (Defra, last updated 18 August 2021; read 31 October 2026)
• The Procurement (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/746 (read 31 October 2026), for the Contracts Finder date
• Your Evenings Ltd analysis of Find a Tender notices (1 September to 28 October 2026) and Contracts Finder awards (1 July to 28 October 2026), from the services' public data

This guide summarises the official sources above. It isn't legal advice. Check the notice and tender documents for each contract.

Written with AI assistance by the Your Evenings team at Your Evenings Ltd. Last updated 31 October 2026.