Teachers are increasingly helping pupils with non-academic matters - for example, through buying them food and even washing their clothes, research reveals.

Most teachers (71 per cent) are helping pupils more with non-academic matters than they did five years ago, according to survey findings published today.

And this figure rises to 82 per cent in schools in “education investment areas” -  the levelling-up “cold spots” identified by the Department for Education.

More than two-fifths of teachers surveyed (41 per cent) said they were buying pupils school supplies, and more than a quarter (26 per cent) had prepared food for pupils when they did not have any.

Some 26 per cent said they had signposted families to local support services (such as social housing), while more than one in 10 (13 per cent) said they had cleaned pupils’ clothes.

More than two-thirds of teachers (69 per cent) reported helping pupils to talk about their mental health.

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The results have been published to mark the launch of the Commission on Teacher Retention to look into how teachers are battling to mitigate the effects of the cost-of-living crisis and why so many are leaving the profession.

The commission, set up by the teacher wellbeing charity Education Support, will make recommendations for reforms in 2023. 

Chaired by Evelyn Forde, headteacher at Copthall School in Barnet, the commission’s other members include leaders at multi-academy trusts, schools and teaching organisations.

‘Unprecedented’ teacher recruitment and retention crisis

Ms Forde said heads were facing “an unprecedented recruitment and retention crisis”.

She added: “At my school, staff are leaving the sector with no jobs to go to because they have decided enough is enough. When they earn more in the private sector, why wouldn’t they?”

Sinéad Mc Brearty, chief executive of Education Support and a fellow commissioner, added: “As the demands on schools increase -  through austerity, the pandemic and now the cost-of-living crisis -  so do the demands on teachers and school leaders. They care deeply about those they teach, and, year after year, they go the extra mile for their communities.

“This comes at a real personal cost, and the signs of exhaustion and burnout continue to rise. For many, leaving the profession is a route back to health. Children and young people are short-changed by our inability to retain talented teachers.”

In the survey of more than 1,000 teachers in secondary schools across England, carried out by the research consultancy Public First, 76 per cent said they felt they were not paid enough.

Furthermore, 77 per cent of teachers and leaders said they got paid less than they should for the amount of work they put into the job. 

Teachers were also asked what the main reasons were for people leaving teaching for other professions.

More than a quarter (26 per cent) said teachers were leaving for more flexible working hours and 28 per cent said they saw people leave for better pay progression and career development opportunities.

A Department of Education spokesperson said:

“We appreciate the widespread impact the cost of living is having. That is why the government is committed to finding ways to mitigating these rising costs, to ensure that uniform and food costs must never be a burden for parents, a barrier to pupils accessing education or fall on to teachers.

“We are providing more support for children by expanding access to free school meals, with over a third of pupils now receiving them in education settings. We have also announced further investment in the National School Breakfast Programme, extending the programme for another year, backed by up to £30million.

“Through the Household Support Fund, we have also enabled £37 billion of support to help families most in need with essentials, such as food and utility bills, to ensure that teachers should not have to step in.”