Food hygiene ratings
Credit: High Speed Training

Earlier this year, Condé Nast Traveller named Birmingham “the most exciting foodie destination in the UK.” But should people still be excited when our food hygiene ratings are so low? I’m not sure I am anymore. Look away if you still want a takeaway this weekend!

Thanks to a new report from online training provider High Speed Training, we now know which towns and cities across the West Midlands are scoring highest and lowest for their food hygiene ratings. Yep, and the lowest average rating in the West Midlands went to Birmingham.

With an average score of 4.11, it’s not just the worst in the region, but second bottom in the national rankings for towns and cities. In its defence, however, its score did improve by 0.03 from 2024, and it has by far the highest number of premises, with 3,459 compared to Coventry’s 850.

What else did the report show? Food hygiene report heroCredit: High Speed Training

The report, which analysed Food Standards Agency (FSA) data for over 240,000 food businesses across the UK, found that the average food hygiene rating across all food establishments was 4.45 in the West Midlands (from 18,082 premises). This places the region 8th out of 9 in the national rankings, just ahead of London.

It’s not all bad, though. Overall, 84.9% of premises scored a 4 or a 5 on their rating, while 86.6% of restaurants and cafes scored a 4 or a 5. It looks like it’s the takeaways that are really dragging us down, with 24.3% across the West Midlands scoring 3 or below. In Birmingham, this rose to 37%.

Other losers in the West Midlands include West Bromwich, which had the biggest decrease in average rating, with a drop of 0.26. Its average rating in 2024 was 4.42. Ranked 10th in the region, Wolverhampton also had the biggest drop in ranking, moving down 5 positions from its 2024 rank of 5th.

When it comes to winners, the top spot went to Newcastle-Under-Lyme, with an average score of 4.78—joint 10th in the national rankings. The biggest improver in the region was Nuneaton, which increased its rating by an impressive 0.15 from 2024 and climbed 5 places in the rankings to 7th overall.

Other takeaways from the study:

  • Overall region change: 2025: 4.45 – 2024: 4.42
  • Across the region, 60 premises scored a 0, and 425 premises scored a 1.
  • The total number of premises scoring a 0, 1, 2, or 3 was 2,737.
  • Across the region, there were 18,082 premises analysed, an increase of 358 from 2024.

The best food hygiene ratings across the West Midlands (average /no. of establishments): two chefs in a kitchenCredit: High Speed Training

  1. Newcastle-under-Lyme (4.78 / 213)
  2. Burton upon Trent (4.69 / 325)
  3. Telford (4.66 / 437)
  4. Worcester (4.62 / 316)
  5. Sutton Coldfield (4.61 / 238)
  6. Shrewsbury (4.6 / 353)
  7. Nuneaton (4.59 / 239)
  8. Hereford (4.57 / 209)
  9. Stoke-on-Trent (4.57 / 799)
  10. Coventry (4.56 / 850)
  11. Wolverhampton (4.54 / 640)
  12. Solihull (4.53 / 304)
  13. Lichfield (4.49 / 134)
  14. Redditch (4.4 / 144)
  15. Dudley (4.25 / 259)
  16. West Bromwich (4.16 / 199)
  17. Walsall (4.12 / 263)
  18. Birmingham (4.11 / 3,459)

To view the report in full and to see how the West Midlands compares to other areas, head here.