A third of 15-year-olds in the UK attend schools where teaching has been hindered by problems with the school building, grounds, heating or cooling systems and light and sound systems, an international education study has found.
And more than a quarter (27 per cent) of 15-year-olds went to schools where heads said teaching was hindered by a lack of educational materials, such as textbooks and ICT equipment, according to a new report by the Programme for International Students Assessment (Pisa) based on 2018 data.
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The third of students whose headteacher said their school’s ability to provide teaching was held back by a lack of, or inadequate, “physical infrastructure”, was an improvement from the previous Pisa findings in 2015, when the figure was 45.5 per cent.
Meanwhile, 23 per cent of students in 2018 went to schools reporting a shortage of educational materials, down from 29 per cent in 2015.
Despite these improvements, Andreas Schleicher, director for education and skills for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), told Tes that there were still “big disparities” between advantaged and disadvantaged schools.
The UK was “an average performer” for levels of educational resources, he said.
But, he added: “Disadvantaged schools have greater shortage of material resources, I think that’s something to take seriously. We also see that clearly there is a private-public gap, so publicly funded schools don’t have as good supplies as privately funded schools do.
“On equity and material resources, I think there is more to be done.”
The study also looked at the number of computers per 15-year-old school student.
The UK’s ratio of 1.5 put it in second place - behind Luxembourg at 1.7 - and above the OECD average of 0.8.
On access to computers, the OECD did not pick up any significant difference across state and private schools, advantaged and disadvantaged students, or rural and city schools.
