From a full English to 'superfood' goji berries: What do boarding school students eat for breakfast?

School lunches have a bad reputation - soggy roasts, boiled carrots, and all topped off with fish and chips at the end of the week. 

But what if you had to eat school food all the time - including first thing in the morning?

Students at the top boarding schools - which cost nearly £50,000 a year to go to - can expect to enjoy anything from a delicious array of cereals and continental options to the traditional full English for breakfast. 

With some schools modernising their menus with superfoods, what are boarding school pupils eating for breakfast?

Gordonstoun 

Gordonstoun, which was attended by Prince Philip and King Charles, has recently modernised its menus - including its breakfast (file image)

Gordonstoun recently expanded its menus to incorporate more student feedback. Head Chef Jamie Campbell said the school had 'introduced a lot of choice' 

Porridge has become a firm favourite at King Charles' old school as the catering team introduced new toppings

King Charles' alma mater has recently revamped its menu to cater better for students with different diets and to provide more 'brain food'. 

Head Chef Jamie Campbell told MailOnline that many of the changes had been driven by more students becoming vegan or gluten-free. 

'They get a fully cooked breakfast every day - they can have that if they want. There's about ten different cereals on offer, including homemade granola and muesli. 

'We offer a plain porridge. They can add cinnamon, or cocoa, goji berries or sunflower seeds and we do specials as well. 

'Every now and then we offer homemade smoothies or as a treat we'll smoke our own salmon in the school and we'll put that on for an Egg Benedict special.

'We've got vegan spelt croissants. We introduced a lot of choice.'  

He added: 'Something like goji berries was something that a lot of people on the refectory team had never heard of, two or three years ago. 

'It used to be that when we had porridge on, it was just porridge with nothing to add to it and we were always throwing it out at the end of breakfast. Now, we're running out of porridge because they're adding the goji berries and sunflower seeds. 

'The students are a lot more aware of the brain foods we offer.'

The students at the Scottish boarding school can still get their hands on a full English-style brekkie but a current favourite is porridge with cinnamon 

The vegan Asian noodles, with Quorn nuggets, are a fan favourite. Students will queue 'out of the door' for the dish, head chef Jamie Campbell said

Other special dishes at Gordonstoun include smoked salmon for breakfast during exam season and paella 

'We redesigned breakfast, lunch and supper. it wasn't about taking away all the unhealthy things because as much as they are unhealthy a lot of students board, so you have to give them the treats.

'One thing that we introduced is a full salad bar, including 14 different salads. Beside that we introduced these bowls of seeds and nuts and dried berries and hummus and that was to provide more protein. That's really taken off - they love that. If you forget to put them out there's always someone who will come up and say. 

'Southern fried chicken and fish and chip Friday nights we still do, a little treat on a Friday night. If we took them off, there would be masses of complaints. 

But things like our vegan Asian noodles - we use vegan Quorn nuggets for that - they'll queue out of the door for that before they go for the meat option. 

'There has been a sea change in the choices that they make.' 

Eton College

Breakfast at Eton includes an incredible nine different kinds of milk and a new smoothie every morning. Bread is made from scratch, as is the homemade granola (file image)

Eggs Benedict (file image) is one of the hot options that might be available during breakfast-time at Eton

Possibly the most famous school on the list and the one that has produced the most Prime Ministers, it would be understandable to expect Eton - where fees currently stand at up to £46,296 a year - to put on a pretty good breakfast. 

Its website advertises a 'huge variety of foods' and an enormous nine different kinds of milk. 

For the health-conscious, there's a different smoothie every day. The bread served to the young Etonians is baked from scratch every morning. 

If you are looking for a full English, though, Eton will be a slight disappointment. Although there is a cooked option, this is more likely to be brunch-inspired, like Eggs Benedict or smoked salmon.  

Harrow

One former Harrow pupil said that other than the juice being 'very watered down', the breakfasts were quite 'handy'

The London-based Harrow School has stuck to a more traditional menu, offering a cooked breakfast and cereal. One former student remembered the Sunday brunches being particularly good.

'I'd say the Coco Pops and Rice Krispies cereal mix was a good shout of mine. The orange and apple juice machines weren't great. Very watered down. 

'Brunch on Sunday was very good and the toast machine used to work pretty effectively. Tinned pineapple and peaches also did the job. I just loaded up on eggs and beans for hot breakfast. The veggie sausage wasn't memorable - that I can say.' 

A former student at Harrow Hong Kong described the cooked breakfast there as 'dubious' and said he stuck to fruits and cereals. 

Westminster

Westminster School has a traditional offering but former students weren't impressed by the standard of the sausages (file image)

'Two granola pots, a sausage, two oranges and a green tea. Everyday at 8.07am,' a former student at Westminster described. 

Another had a bone to pick over the quality of the sausages when they studied there. 

'Hash browns and really awful sausages. Eggs. There were really s**t thick dry pancakes with golden syrup.

'You know the kind of sausages which have so little meat in them they're really bread-y.' 

Westminster's online menu suggests breakfast will typically consist of sausage patties, smoked back bacon, pancakes, fried eggs, sauteed mushrooms and baked beans. 

'Jumbo oat porridge' with fruit compote is also available, alongside pumpkin seeds, blueberry granola and strawberry puree. 

Radley College

Meals at Radley are taken in the wood-panelled dining hall, reminiscent of many Oxford colleges just five miles away

Radley's breakfasts were popular amongst former students, but one complained that the hot chocolate was limited to just three days a week. 

Another former student had fond memories of mornings at the school, which currently costs up to £44,550 a year to attend. 

'Porridge was very good and there was always bacon, sausage and eggs. And fruit and coffee too. And hash browns and beans. 

I'm not going to lie, it banged.' 

St Mary's Ascot 

Pains au chocolat are popular at many boarding schools where they are often provided as a weekly treat (file image)

A former student opened up about what would usually be on offer in the mornings at the exclusive girls' school. 

'There were crumpets, eggs, bacon and sausages, plus toast, cereal assortments, yoghurts with various toppings, and fruits and fruit salads,' the student explained. 

'Sometime pain au chocolat - or avocado, which the queue was always very long for!

'Life was pretty good.' 

Ardingly College

Another school with a penchant for pain au chocolat is Ardingly, in Sussex. 

A former student said they would regularly have four when they were served on Tuesdays - but warned that other bits of the breakfast were a fire hazard. 

'There was a full English everyday and pastries and fruit. Pain au chocolat on Tuesday was the best day. 

We also had cereals but I would avoid them. The toaster machine regularly caught on fire so they had to replace it.' 

Wellington College 

Yoghurt bars with extra toppings are a staple across the private boarding schools. Toppings include raisins, homemade granola, pumpkin seeds and goji berries 

Wellington's website describes its food as 'quite simply superb' and offers 'an array of fresh fruit and yoghurts, cereals, pastries' alongside a fully cooked option. 

A former student told MailOnline the fare was similar to that of a 'three or four star hotel'.

'Sausage and bacon, there were good pastries on offer. The yoghurt bar was good with raisins and lots of other toppings.' 

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