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Food Hygiene in Schools: The Hidden Failures in Wales

🏫 Introduction

Wales has a reputation for high standards in food hygiene — especially in schools. Just search the Food Standards Agency (FSA) database and you’ll find it littered with 5-star hygiene ratings. Of the 1,874 school settings listed across Wales, over 1,670 have a perfect food hygiene score. That’s more than 89%.

It’s a record Welsh Government often highlights — and on the surface, it looks like something to be proud of.

But scratch beneath the surface, and a different story emerges. Just before we explore school food hygiene ratings in schools across Wales, let’s remind ourselves about the pass mark.

🎯 About That “Pass” Mark…

It’s worth remembering that the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme does have a pass mark (although it is not spoken about like that).  Nevertheless, a food hygiene rating of 3 is officially classed as a ‘pass’ — but in reality, it’s more like scraping through. It means the business (or school, in this case) is generally satisfactory — not excellent, not very good, and maybe not even spotless. If 5 is the standard most schools achieve, then a 3 is a red flag.  This score is telling you that something is borderline and needs attention. And when it comes to children and food safety, “borderline” should not be good enough.  Now let’s go under the surface and talk about what is not being talked about with schools hygiene ratings across Wales.

🚨 Seven Schools in Wales Scored Below a Food Hygiene Rating of 3

Our deep-dive into the Food Standard Agency (FSA) official food hygiene database uncovered 7 education settings in Wales that received a rating of 2 or lower — meaning “Improvement Necessary” or “Major Improvement Necessary.”

These include primary and secondary schools, breakfast clubs, after-school clubs and early years settings.

Let that sink in for a minute – 

7 education settings — in a country known for its high standards of food hygiene and food safety — were awarded a substandard food hygiene rating.

Wales_Failing_Schools_Ratings_Chart

And no, these weren’t quick fixes or minor paperwork errors. In every one of these cases, the problem was considered serious enough to trigger a warning – that improvement is required.  This warning is shown on the FSA database online.  It is available to the public – and to parents of children attending those schools.  But sadly, after more than 14 years, not everyone is awareness that this database exists.

👀 Here's What We Found

We plotted a breakdown of the school inspection scores across the three rating criteria used by EHOs.  This includes:

  • Hygiene (cleanliness, food handling)
  • Structure (condition of premises)
  • Confidence in Management (trust in systems and record-keeping)
Schools_Wales_Food Hygiene Ratings Examined

In summary, across the 7 schools in Wales:

  • 6 showed issues with poor hygiene
  • 5 had structural concerns
  • All 7 triggered issued with confidence in management

In the worst cases, all three areas were flagged.  For example: Ysgol Meifod Breakfast Club, Powys, scored 15 (Hygiene), 10 (structural), 15 (confidence in management).  

6 out of the 7 schools gained marks for poor hygiene. This could be because of poor hygiene practices such as cross-contamination or because of poor cleaning.  

All 7 schools gained unnecessary marks under Confidence in Management.  This may have been due to failure to complete documentation, failure to have access to the required documentation or failure to implement the HACCP Plan as intended.

One primary school and one breakfast school club had the highest Confidence in Management failure scores in the datasets.

❌ Nobody Is Talking About This

So where is the accountability?

We checked the Estyn inspection reports for the schools with the worst food hygiene ratings across Wales. Despite the hygiene scores being issued just weeks before or after Estyn visits, none of the failures were mentioned.

Not even in passing.

We did, however, find local newspapers proudly celebrating businesses with 5-star hygiene scores — while failing schools, breakfast clubs, and after-school services slipped by unnoticed.

It’s hard not to conclude that food safety and education is being run in siloes across Wales.

⚠️ Why This Matters

These aren’t fast food commercial takeaways that we are talking about here.  

These are schools.

They serve hot meals, toast, breakfast, and after-school snacks to some of the most vulnerable people in our communities — young children.

Failing a food hygiene inspection at this level should be treated as a public concern. It should spark a response — not be quietly buried in an FSA database or in a report from a Government education and training inspectorate.

🧭 What Needs to Change

This isn’t a call for shame or finger-pointing. It’s a call for joined-up thinking.

We need:

  • 🧩 Better cooperation and communication between Schools, Estyn, Environmental Health Departments, and local councils
  • 📢 Public transparency when schools fail hygiene inspections
  • 📋 Robust internal checks by schools before a reinspection takes place
  • 💡Training and support for Head Teachers, School Governing Boards, and school staff for food provision — especially in early years and wraparound services.

🔍 Why This Is Just the Start

The 7 schools we identified in Wales are only part of a bigger picture. We’ve also reviewed 144 education settings across England with a rating of 2 or lower — and the patterns are just as worrying.

But Wales is where we begin. 

Wales is held up by the Welsh Government and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) as the gold standard – the UK’s pilot for the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme.

It’s where the high standards are most loudly celebrated by the Welsh Assembly Government – and the FSA. 

So it’s the perfect place to ask:
👉 Does the reputation hold up — or is it just a carefully managed PR story?

Would you like your children or grandchildren to be in a school that has failed its Food Hygiene Rating?

We’ll leave you with that thought.

To be continued…