Pizza has been named as the most popular school food among both primary and secondary school pupils, just weeks before the government is set to unveil its new school food standards.
Contract caterer Sodexo’s School Dinner Index 2026, which received 7,259 survey reposes from primary, secondary and sixth form schools, alongside operational data covering 237,835 meal serves across 107 primary schools in July 2026, found that cheese and tomato pizza was the favourite meal among primary pupils, with 438 votes.
Roast chicken and potatoes received 223 votes, followed by fish fingers and chips (205), pasta bolognese (151) and mac & cheese (150).
Among secondary pupils, pizza received 1,063 votes, ahead of mac & cheese (392), roast chicken (267), and southern baked chicken (263).
However, secondary students are calling for a wider range of international flavours and formats, including katsu curry, fajitas, tacos, jollof rice, biriyani, noodles and African-inspired dishes.
It comes as the government prepares to publish the new school food standards later this month, which marks the first overhaul in over a decade.
Under the new rules, pizza can no longer be served every day and must always be paired with vegetables or salad.
Alongside this, deep-fried food will be banned completely, while fruit will need to be served instead of “sugar-laden treats” for the majority of the school week.
The findings also come as Sodexo’s refreshed Alliance in Partnership school food offer is being rolled out across its schools. It combines familiar favourites with healthier ingredients, global influences and more sustainable choices, the caterer said.
Alliance in Partnership managing director Rebecca Bridgement described pizza as the “perfect example” of “serving the familiar favourites pupils love but making them work harder nutritionally”.
The caterer’s new ‘hero dishes’ include a homemade pizza with a 50% wholemeal base and vegetable-packed “hidden super sauce”; a Mexican-inspired chilli bean stack offering vegetables and bean protein; an adobo chicken roti wrap to tap into Filipino-inspired street food; and a plant-based gochujang lentil and bean bolognese.
Bridgement said: “School food has changed enormously, but what pupils are telling us is that new doesn’t have to mean unfamiliar. Younger children understandably gravitate towards dishes they know and trust, while as pupils get older, we see much more appetite for global flavours, street food influences and food they can personalise.
“Ultimately, it isn’t enough to know what children like to eat. Our job is to use our culinary and nutritional expertise to make those favourites healthier and more balanced while keeping them appealing enough that pupils genuinely want to choose and eat them.”
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