More than one in four teachers say at least a quarter of their pupils lack the devices they need to access remote learning while schools are partially closed, Tes can reveal.

And more than two-thirds of headteachers say they have not received enough laptops from the Department for Education to help pupils during the lockdown, while 68 per cent say their school has had less than half of the laptops needed.

In a Tes survey of more than 6,400 teachers in England, more than a quarter (28 per cent) said at least 25 per cent of their pupils lacked the devices they need to access distance learning.

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A further 19 per cent said there was a shortage of devices for between 10 and 24 per cent of their pupils, while 13 per cent said between 1 and 9 per cent of children they teach lacked the technology needed to engage with remote lessons.

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One primary teacher, who said that more than 75 per cent of their pupils lacked devices, explained: “Our school is in an area of high deprivation. Families will have maybe one phone to access work for three, four or five children.”

And a special school teacher, who also cited shortages for more than three-quarters of children, said it meant that the school only had “about 10 out of 250 pupils accessing remote learning”.

In addition, of the more than 400 heads in England who responded to the Tes survey, more than two thirds (71 per cent) said they had not received enough laptops from the DfE to help pupils during lockdown.

And 68 per cent of heads said their school had received less than half of the laptops needed.

One primary school headteacher, who said they had to buy their own laptops, commented: “Just no words for this really. The amount of time it has taken, chasing, checking, the lateness of orders - not in time for two bubble closures. One delivery of eight arrived in good time. There just are not enough.”

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “The problem with the provision of laptops is simply that the DfE didn’t get to grips with this issue early enough in the crisis, and it is now desperately trying to make up for lost time with the ongoing programme to distribute devices.

“This is happening when we are deep into a second period of restricted school opening, and it is all far too late in the day. We’re not convinced even now that the government fully understands the level of need, both in terms of the number of devices that are required and how many families lack internet connectivity.”

The DfE has been approached for comment.