Teachers step in as children arrive hungry and cold at school

Schools across the UK are being forced to divert their limited budgets to provide essentials such as cookers, beds, duvets, and food to families facing deepening poverty, a situation school leaders describe as a stark sign of the country’s growing inequality. At the National Education Union (NEU) annual conference in Harrogate, educators revealed that more pupils are missing out on extracurricular activities and school trips, while others arrive at school cold and hungry, as families struggle to cover even the most basic needs. Chris Dutton, chair of the NEU’s national leadership council and a deputy headteacher in the south west of England, stated, “Lots of school budget is spent on things that you wouldn’t necessarily associate with school budget. So providing basic equipment for families, providing things like cookers, providing microwaves.” He continued, “Families are in poverty and they can’t afford to pay for some of these things themselves, so sometimes schools have to step in and we provide basic equipment, basic food.” Dutton highlighted that some schools are supplying duvets, pillows, and even beds, “because they just aren’t there in the family home,” and emphasized that, “it shouldn’t be coming out of school budget, but we shouldn’t be having children living in these circumstances.”
Michael Allen, deputy headteacher of a primary school in Wiltshire, described how some Reception pupils are not toilet trained or are anxious, prompting schools to buy clothes for children to change into during the day. “Schools are now being asked to do so much more for the children that come in,” Allen said. “We know children are cold when they come to school. We know that we can give out some payments to pay for heating, but we try and have to plan that ahead. It’s more worries for teachers and leaders where we want to be focusing on teaching, inspiring people, and we are really sometimes mired in things that we feel that maybe others should have picked up before they get to school.”
Aimee Turner, another deputy headteacher, pointed to the “unseen poverty” affecting her pupils. “Children in our school don’t go to after-school clubs. That wider curriculum offer is not available for our children, and so many local schools are then having to withdraw all their beautiful after-school clubs that they used to offer, things like the sports and the arts clubs, because school funding has been reduced massively.” Turner added, “Parents can’t afford to send them to any sort of curriculum enhancement. But also schools can’t afford to buy them in on behalf of those families now.” Dutton also noted a “huge rise in parents who can’t afford school trips,” stressing that poverty now extends well beyond those eligible for free school meals.
Recent research underscores the scale of the crisis. According to a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) report for the year ending March 2024, 4.45 million children in the UK are living in households with relative low income after housing costs, the highest figure since records began in 2002/03. The same report found that 31% of children live in relative low-income households after housing costs, and 11% are in material deprivation, meaning they lack essentials like warm clothing, nutritious food, and access to school activities. Notably, 44% of children in low-income households live in families where someone has a disability, highlighting the intersection of poverty and disability. A poll of more than 11,600 NEU teacher members in English state schools revealed that nearly two in five had seen physical underdevelopment among their pupils due to poverty, with the majority reporting children arriving in unclean, damaged, or ill-fitting clothes and showing signs of hunger during the school day.
The situation has prompted calls for urgent government intervention. Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU, said, “It is profoundly worrying that in one of the richest countries in the world, we continue to expect schools to plug the gap. The reality is that child poverty is rising, not falling. Instead of reducing it, the Government is making the lives of 4.5 million young people and their parents more difficult. Whether it’s the two-child limit or welfare cuts, the end result is the same: more suffering for the most vulnerable in society. A Government calling for ‘high and rising standards’ cannot at the same time stand idly by in the face of high and rising rates of child poverty. The Government must take action.”
A Department for Education spokeswoman responded, “No child should be living in poverty, which is why we have already taken wide-ranging action to break the unfair link between background and opportunity, led by our cross-government child poverty taskforce. We have also tripled investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million – with delivery of free meals and childcare to begin in up to 750 schools from this month – and increased pupil premium to over £3 billion to provide additional support for those children that need it most.”
Despite these measures, the scale of need is overwhelming. A BBC report from January 2025 found that nearly half of teachers had provided financial support to families, two-thirds had supplied food outside school hours, and 15% had spent their own money to help struggling families. Schools in deprived areas have distributed emergency “grab bags” with essentials like pyjamas, food, and uniforms to children in crisis. Paul Whiteman from the NAHT school leaders’ union stressed, “There needs to be a greater safety net for children and families to get the support they need from central and local government and community services, and it’s vital the government’s child poverty taskforce delivers tangible recommendations which help address the root causes of poverty.”
The impact of poverty on education is profound. Children from lower income families are 50% less likely to do as well at school as their peers, and teachers report that poverty is significantly affecting learning, with 87% of education staff in a recent survey saying it has a major impact. Many schools are now providing not just education but also daily essentials such as food, clothing, hygiene products, and even emergency loans, highlighting the extent to which schools have become a lifeline for families in need. As the UK faces record levels of child poverty and schools continue to shoulder the burden, the call for systemic change and increased government support is growing ever more urgent.