Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are missing lessons because they can’t afford uniforms, food, trips and transport, a new report suggests.
In a survey commissioned by the charity Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), 16 per cent of all students said they had missed secondary school at least once because they did not have something they needed.
This proportion increased among children who are eligible for free school meals (FSMs), with 26 per cent saying this had been the case.
The charity is calling on the government to expand free school meals to more families in England, as well as to scrap the two-child benefit limit.
School absence linked to poverty
The poll of 1,700 state secondary school students aged 11-18 in the UK showed that 47 per cent of those who missed school because they did not have what they needed did so because they did not have the right uniform or kit.
Across all of the students surveyed, those eligible for FSM were around three times more likely to give this reason for missing school than their peers.
In the poll, carried out by Survation in April and May, 23 per cent of those who had missed school because they did not have what they needed said it was because they could not afford school meals.
The cost of getting to school was reported as a key reason for non-attendance by more than a quarter of children who had missed school because they did not have what they needed.
Meanwhile, 27 per cent said a lack of money for trips meant they sometimes did not attend school.
Children missing out
One secondary school student surveyed said: “I miss out on enrichment week and trips - it’s too much [money].”
Kate Anstey, head of education policy at CPAG, said: “Children in poverty aren’t getting the real deal at school because they don’t have money to participate - or even to get to the school gates.
“From not being able to afford meals or uniform to poor mental health, lack of money at home means young people are missing school - effectively priced out of the system.
“Government must do more to support living standards for families so kids aren’t locked out of learning, including scrapping the two-child [benefits] limit and expanding eligibility for free school meals.”
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said that ”while schools do everything they can to mitigate the effects of poverty, they cannot solve often deep-rooted social issues whose origins lie way beyond the school gates”.
“The education secretary’s welcome commitment to tackling barriers to opportunity must be backed up by ambitious proposals from the government’s Child Poverty Taskforce, supported by significant investment in order to tackle the causes and symptoms of poverty,” he added.
A government spokesperson said: “We are determined to reduce child poverty through wide-ranging action as part of our Child Poverty Taskforce, breaking the unfair link between background and opportunity.
“Through our Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we are also changing the law to limit the number of branded items schools can require, which alongside free breakfast clubs could put £500 a year back into working parents’ pockets.”
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