Around a third of primary school teachers (31 per cent) report more pupils showing up to class hungry, according to findings from a major report examining the impact of the cost-of-living crisis.
Almost half (45 per cent) of teachers in the most disadvantaged schools also report an increase in pupils regularly coming into school hungry compared with last year.
The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) survey of more than 1,200 primary and secondary school teachers also found some staff were buying food and clothing for children.
Its findings also show four in 10 (40 per cent) of primary teachers surveyed report that the number of pupils coming into school without adequate clothing had increased compared with last year.
The stark findings come after a recent report found that one in five schools are now running a food bank.
High level of need could become ‘entrenched’
The NFER report also states that more than three-quarters of primary school teachers and just under two-thirds (62 per cent) of secondary school teachers are spending their own money purchasing items for pupils.
Almost a fifth (19 per cent) of primary teachers say they are spending money on pupils’ pastoral needs, such as clothing or food.
Jude Hillary, co-head of UK policy and practice at the NFER, warned that the findings highlight a risk of the high level of need “becoming an entrenched and persistent challenge for pupils, families and staff”.
Mr Hillary said that teachers are “going above and beyond” to meet their pupils’ needs ”at a time when teachers individually continue to face their own financial pressures”.
Around one in four primary teachers and over one in five secondary teachers estimate having spent over £100 on their pupils or school between September 2023 and March 2024.
The NFER report calls for the government to provide targeted financial support to help schools address pupils’ wellbeing needs.
The report also recommends an extension of the current eligibility for free school meals and for the government to “increase the capacity and responsiveness of Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services and the wider support around families”.
Schools ‘setting up food banks’
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said that the union had heard from school leaders who are “setting up food banks and warm hubs, providing crisis vouchers for supermarkets, offering use of showers and washing machines, and even giving parents cash for energy meters”.
“This is on top of dealing with the cost pressures their schools are continuing to face due to sustained high inflation, with many having to raise income from sources like charity grants and fundraising to cover basic costs, including classroom materials and staffing,” he added.
The report also highlights a decline in satisfaction with the support teachers are getting for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
This year, 48 per cent of primary teachers said they were getting all or a good amount of internal SEND support, down from 52 per cent last year.
The decline was mirrored in secondary settings, where 53 per cent of secondary teachers were satisfied, down from 59 per cent last year.
Impact on school buildings flagged
The NFER also raises concerns over the impact of current cost pressures on building improvements in the report.
Almost half (46 per cent) of primary senior leaders and a third (33 per cent) of secondary senior leaders surveyed are making cuts to planned spending on building improvements and new buildings in response to current cost pressures.
It comes after the chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, Dame Meg Hillier, recently warned that major investment is needed to improve the state of the country’s school buildings.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We have extended eligibility for free school meals to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century with the number of children receiving free school meals having more than doubled since 2010.”
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