Headteachers’ leaders want the Department for Education (DfE) to look into whether its scheme providing free period products to schools needs to be expanded.
The concern comes after almost a third of girls and young women (32 per cent) in the UK said they could not access free period products at their school or college, according to a survey published today.
The research, commissioned by the Girlguiding charity, also found that just over a third of students said they could obtain free period products in their school toilets (35 per cent), but another third revealed they had to ask a teacher if they wanted to access them (32 per cent).
The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) is backing calls from Girlguiding for the government to assess schemes that provide free period products in schools.
ASCL’s director of policy, Julie McCulloch, suggested that pupils may have been unable to access period products through school because demand exceeded supply.
In 2020, the government pledged to provide free period products for students in all state-run schools and colleges in England, in response to a public campaign.
Similar schemes are in place in Wales and Scotland, while a pilot is under way in Northern Ireland.
‘Full-scale evaluation’ needed
Now Girlguiding is calling on the government to do “a full-scale evaluation” of the scheme to ensure it is effective in helping those it seeks to, and to make it permanent.
Currently, the scheme in England is only available until July 2022, but Girlguiding said there have been recent commitments to renew it.
The DfE has said that 94 per cent of secondary schools and 90 per cent of post-16 organisations in England have ordered free period products for pupils, with order numbers growing compared with earlier in the Covid pandemic.
However, concerns have now been raised about the scheme being capped.
Ms McCulloch, speaking for ASCL, said: “We are very sorry to hear that such a large number of girls and young women have been unable to access free period products at their school or college. We would imagine that this has generally happened where schools or colleges have not been able to order enough period products to meet student need.
“The allocation of free period products under the government scheme is capped. The amount is based on 35 per cent of the number of recorded girls and young women in each school or college who, based on age, are likely to have started their periods. If the actual number is higher than this, it is very likely that there will not be enough period products available.
“We would welcome an assessment of the scheme to see where there are gaps so that appropriate action can be taken. It is important that girls and young women are able to attend their school or college without the worry of not being able to afford period products and the risk that this may deter them from attending.”
Girlguiding research found that more than half (54 per cent) of respondents said they felt uncomfortable asking for period products at school, while 30 per cent said they felt too embarrassed.
Savanta surveyed 2,008 girls aged 11 to 18, across the UK, between 13 and 22 June for the charity.
The research also revealed that 77 per cent of girls thought period products were too expensive and one in 10 said they or their families could not afford to buy them.
A DfE spokesperson said: “No one should be held back from accessing education due to their period, which is why we launched our free period product scheme to provide girls with period products when they need them.
“Since the launch of the scheme in January 2020, 94 per cent of secondary schools and 90 per cent of post-16 organisations in England have ordered free period products for pupils, with order numbers continuing to grow as we move past the pandemic.
“We continue to work with schools to tackle period poverty, providing advice and support on ways to promote the scheme to pupils that avoids embarrassment or stigma, and to involve pupils in what products should be ordered.”
