In the latest survey of almost 18,000 National Education Union members, conducted ahead of Annual Conference in Harrogate, we asked teachers and support staff about pupil/student poverty.
- 94% of teachers and 97% of support staff respondents believe that poverty or low income affects learning.
- According to NEU members, the issue has intensified. 61% of teachers and 66% of support staff say that poverty/low income affects learning ‘to a large extent’, up from 52% overall when asked in 2021.
- 78% of teachers tell us that they or their school is providing help with uniforms for disadvantaged pupils, as well as free breakfasts (55%), extra food during the day (58%), toiletries (31%) and period products (68%).
- Teachers and support staff are calling on Government to take action on affordable school uniforms, food vouchers during school holidays, and a dedicated technology budget to address the digital divide. They also strongly support free school meals for all primary school pupils.
The State of Education survey gauges the views of working teacher, support staff and school leader NEU members in England and Wales. We are releasing the findings over the course of Annual Conference.
Impact on Learning
There is considerable recognition that poverty/low income plays a significant role in the learning experience of pupils/students. 94% of teacher and 97% of support staff respondents to our survey said that it affects learning to an extent, with the majority believing it is to a large extent. A very small proportion perceive no impact.
This issue has clearly hardened over time. 61% of teachers and 66% of school support staff believe that poverty/low income affects learning ‘to a large extent’, up from 52% of the whole membership when asked the same question in 2021. And when measured by gradient of areas of least to highest deprivation in English state schools, as set out below, it is clear that the issue intensifies further.
“The level of deprivation is increasing all the time,” said one member. “I’ve always worked in similar schools with students from similar socio-economic backgrounds and this is the worst I have ever known it in 28 years of teaching.”
When asked to identify the signs of impacts on learning, our survey produced broadly similar responses from teachers and support staff.
When broken down to teachers working in the English state-funded sector, it becomes clear they are more likely to witness signs of tiredness and fatigue (89%), an inability to concentrate (85%) or to complete homework (77%), and frequent ill health (67%). Whereas these figures are broadly consistent with last year’s responses, ill health is noticeably higher than in 2022 when we last asked this question (55%).
Again, there was a clear relationship between deprivation levels and the observed impact on pupils. In English state schools with the lowest proportion of pupils eligible for FSM, 45% of teachers said they see pupils showing hunger during the day as a result of poverty; in schools with the highest proportion of pupils eligible for FSM the figure is 81%. In schools with the least deprivation 54% of teachers report students attending in unclean, damaged or ill-fitting clothes and shoes; in the most disadvantaged schools the figure is 86%.
“I have students who fall asleep in lessons because they haven’t eaten or haven’t been able to get a good night’s sleep because of the environment they live in. I have students coming to school in -5 degrees without jumpers or coats. I have students coming to school in pouring rain with holes in their shoes because they can’t afford new ones.”
Support at School Level
Three quarters of respondents (78% teachers, 74% support staff) told us that they or their workplace has provided help with uniforms for disadvantaged pupils. Schools and colleges are also supporting young people with free breakfasts and/or extra food during the day.
Members tell us that, although this support is vital, schools are under financial pressures and do not have unlimited resources.
“I stock my school kitchen every week with fruit, cereal, milk, biscuits… the number of children who pop in to see me and then ask for food has grown over the last two years. It is heart-breaking.”
“Poverty in schools is nothing new. But the expectations for schools to provide support is greater than ever – with fewer resources.”
“As a school, we do not have the funds to pay for our children’s school trips and neither do a lot of our parents. This results in either avoiding booking trips and other enrichment activities or certain children missing out.”
“I worry that teachers like myself who often spend out of their own pockets for food and uniform for children who need it, won’t be able to for much longer with the cost-of-living crisis.”
“We can’t keep providing more, but our pupils are needing more and more. Parents are more needy than ever and family support needs are spiralling. Teachers can’t do it all.”
What Can Government Do?
When asked what measures could be taken to support pupils living in poverty or on a low income, teachers and support staff showed strong support for a number of initiatives.
In both the table for teacher responses above and for support staff below, three quarters of respondents (76%) agree that free school meals for all primary school pupils would be a good step forward. In addition, the vast majority believe that children in receipt of free school meals (FSM) should receive weekly food vouchers during school holidays (86% and 85% respectively). At the top of both tables is the overwhelming call for new rules to ensure affordable school uniforms, another campaign on which the NEU has been active.
The Department for Work and Pension's recent statistical release shows that 4.2m children were living in poverty in the UK in the year 2021/22. This was an increase of 350,000 on the previous year and represents 29% of all UK children. 2.7m children were in deep poverty in 2021/22, an increase of 500,000 since the Conservatives came into office in 2010.
Commenting on the findings of the survey, Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:
“Millions of children are going hungry, and their number is growing. It should concentrate minds in Whitehall that this is having such a profound impact on learning. The cost-of-living crisis will only serve to intensify the challenge ahead, and at such a rate that means-testing cannot possibly hope to keep pace.
“The Government clearly needs to do more and must stop depending on schools and individual staff to keep picking up the pieces. Schools are already working at the limits of what they can afford.
“The suggestions brought forward in this survey are steps that would directly benefit pupils. Free school meals for all pupils in primary schools would ensure no child goes hungry, and bypass the byzantine system which leads to many missing out on that entitlement due to restrictive eligibility or complex registration procedures. Scotland and Wales are already leading the way - and England should follow.
“It is a point of profound shame that in thirteen years, this Government has done nothing to reverse the growth in child poverty.
Editor’s Note
We conducted the survey between 11-27 February 2023. This report covers the findings from 17,891 responses from teachers, leaders and support staff in schools in England and Wales. We also received responses from NEU members in Northern Ireland, in the post-16 sector, in early years and supply; these are not included in this analysis but will feed into further work during the year.
We split the responses into two broad groups: school teachers and school support staff. We split these two groups into English state schools, Welsh state schools and independent schools in England and Wales. We did this so we could weight responses against the different demographic data available from their respective workforce censuses.
Where we have reported results for school teachers in England and Wales or support staff in England and Wales, we have combined the responses for English state schools, Welsh state schools and independent schools in England and Wales and weighted them in proportion to the size of the workforce.