National Education Union survey: State of Education: Pupil Poverty
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In the latest survey of National Education Union members, conducted
ahead of Annual Conference in Harrogate, 11,628 teachers and 3,165
support staff in English state schools told us about the effects of
poverty on their pupils and how it impacts learning. The findings
shine a light on the shocking levels of pupil poverty in the
country today. This is why the National Education Union is calling
for free school meals for all, following the examples set in
London, Scotland and...Request free
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In the latest survey of National Education Union members, conducted ahead of Annual Conference in Harrogate, 11,628 teachers and 3,165 support staff in English state schools told us about the effects of poverty on their pupils and how it impacts learning. The findings shine a light on the shocking levels of pupil poverty in the country today. This is why the National Education Union is calling for free school meals for all, following the examples set in London, Scotland and Wales, and starting with primary schools. Every child regardless of their location should have the same levels of access in order that they can concentrate better at school and lead healthier lives. The union is also calling on the government to urgently implement a strategy to reduce child poverty and to do more to support schools to respond to the effects of poverty and its impact on children's learning. We found that:
Impacts on Learning We asked members in England state schools if they have witnessed an impact of poverty on pupils' learning. Overall, 69 per cent of school support staff and 59 per cent of teachers reported they had seen students showing signs of hunger. The figure for teachers rose to around three quarters (73 per cent) among those working in the most deprived schools. One of the more striking findings was the reporting by 39 per cent of teachers that they have seen signs of physical underdevelopment due to poverty. This rose significantly in the most deprived schools, where 52 per cent had witnessed these effects. An inability to concentrate in lessons is another critical concern, with 82 per cent of teachers reporting this as an issue for disadvantaged students (rising to 87 per cent in the most deprived schools). Other major visible issues include tiredness/fatigue (87 per cent), poor hygiene (71 per cent), lesson disruption (72 per cent), difficulties completing homework (70 per cent) and absenteeism (78 per cent). For those teachers working in secondary schools, the latter rises to 85 per cent. “We have children in temporary accommodation,” one wrote, “who are often absent owing to moving around a lot.” Another told us, “Many of our children live in homes that are damp with no heating. Private rented homes are in appalling conditions. Many children do not have a bed to sleep in or toys to play with or books to read.”
Another teacher responded to our survey by observing that “poverty affects parents' mental health, which then affects their parenting ability. Poor housing affects lots of our families and children come to school tired. They often don't have much space to play.” School support staff often work closely with pupils in small groups or one-to-one situations, and although many of their responses aligned with classroom teachers, they were more likely to report noticing several markers of poverty. Almost three quarters of support staff (74 per cent) reported pupils with poor hygiene as a result of poverty. Similarly, 72 per cent reported pupils in unclean, damaged or ill-fitting clothing or shoes and 69 per cent noticed pupils being hungry during the school day as a consequence of poverty. The latest government data on child poverty, covering 2023/24 and published in March 2025, shows the total number having risen in the space of a year from 4.3 million to 4.5 million. This now accounts for 31 per cent of children living in the UK. (1) School-level Support It is a fact of school life that disadvantaged pupils need extra support, and this often goes beyond what government provides. Schools play a major role in supporting disadvantaged students with daily access to healthy food and free school meals. 58 per cent of teachers told us their school provides free breakfasts, 37 per cent have food banks, and 35 per cent supply free lunches beyond the Free School Meals allowance. 42 per cent report that their school also provides extra food for hungry pupils. Going the extra mile has become second nature to schools. Support also extends to the supply of period products (64 per cent of teachers say their school provides these), help with uniforms (80 per cent), the provision of hygiene banks (15 per cent) and help with laundry (15 per cent). Support staff members gave similar responses to teachers but were slightly more likely to report their setting providing either free lunches beyond those eligible for Free School Meals (38 per cent) or extra food for hungry pupils (49 per cent). One respondent told us, “We have children we have to provide clothing to including shoes and clothes to preserve dignity. Many of our families use our in-school food bank and we as staff help to stock it.”
Another reported, “We have a lot of children/families struggling with poverty who are working families not classed as pupil premium therefore do not qualify for free school meals/extra support etc. We support the children where we can at a cost to the school.” This is all delivered by schools against a background of ever-tighter budgets. According to analysis by School Cuts, 70 per cent of schools in England have less funding in real terms than in 2010. In the same period, the number of children in the UK living in relative poverty has risen from 3.6million to 4.5million. (2) The National Funding Formula for schools has caused resources to be reallocated from the most deprived schools to the least deprived schools (3), while schools have become the nation's largest food bank network. (4) Out of their own pockets It is not just schools going the extra mile, but staff too. We asked teachers and support staff in England's state schools if they were supporting students directly from their own income. Almost two thirds of school support staff (63 per cent) and over half of teachers (54 per cent) said that they personally and regularly provided extra food to pupils. This rose to 68 per cent among teachers in leadership roles. In schools in the most deprived areas 64 per cent of support staff and 61 per cent of teachers supplied extra food to hungry pupils, but even in the least deprived areas over half of support staff (54 per cent) and almost half of teachers (47 per cent) reported regularly buying extra food for pupils. One member told us that the food available to pupils “is simply not enough for a child that possibly isn't eating a proper evening meal at home.” The most common contribution reported by members is support with learning supplies such as stationery. This is done by 78 per cent of teachers in our survey, and 66 per cent of support staff. Teachers and school support staff also told us that they personally paid for laundry, uniform or period product needs for pupils. This suggests that where schools have not introduced a bespoke service (see earlier question), individual school staff are having to step in to plug the gap. Commenting on the findings of the survey, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said: “Child poverty is a political choice, one that has been sustained by successive governments which have failed to get to grips with the solutions. It is profoundly worrying that in one of the richest countries in the world, we continue to expect schools to plug the gap. “The reality is that child poverty is rising, not falling. Instead of reducing it, the government is making the lives of 4.5m young people and their parents more difficult. Whether it's the two-child limit or welfare cuts, the end result is the same: more suffering for the most vulnerable in society. “A government calling for ‘high and rising standards' cannot at the same time stand idly by in the face of high and rising rates of child poverty. The government must take action.” Editor's Note The online survey of National Education Union members was conducted between 28 January – 9 February 2025. We received responses from teachers, support staff and other members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This release focuses on the responses from 11,628 teachers and 3,165 support staff in English state schools, reweighted by personal and professional characteristics in line with data from the most recent School Workforce Census. Deprivation is calculated using IDACI bands, band 1 corresponds to the least deprived schools and band 5 to the most. The school's IDACI band is taken from https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/monthly-management-information-ofsteds-school-inspections-outcomes . Other citations:
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