Students missing school because they can't afford uniform & transport

A report by the Child Poverty Action Group suggests that some pupils are missing school because they cannot afford meals, uniforms and trips.

The research found that 16 per cent of all 11–18-year-olds in the UK say that they have missed school at least once because they didn’t have something they needed to attend.

This number increases significantly among children who qualify for means-tested free school meals, with more than one-in-four (26 per cent) saying this has been the case.

Almost half (47 per cent) of all young people who missed school because they didn’t have what they needed said they did so because they did not have the correct uniform or kit. Across all secondary school pupils, those in receipt of free school meals were more than three times as likely to give this reason for missing school than their peers.

The report also found that 23 per cent who didn’t have what they needed said they didn’t attend school because they didn’t have the money to pay for school meals, while 20 per cent said difficulty affording a packed lunch had kept them off.

Over a quarter of all young people (26 per cent) who missed school because they didn’t have what they needed said this was because they couldn’t afford transport to get to school, and more than a quarter (27 per cent) said a lack of money for going on trips meant they sometimes didn’t attend school.

Subject costs also presented challenges, with 16 per cent of all pupils reporting that costs or worries about the cost of some subjects prevented them from choosing a subject to study.

Children in receipt of free school meals were also twice as likely to report being sent home from school for not having the right uniform or kit compared to those not eligible for free school.
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Commenting on the research, Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “School leaders and their staff see the shocking impact of poverty every day and tell us how it impacts everything from pupils’ attendance, to their concentration, learning, health and behaviour.

“No child should be disadvantaged at school because of their background or family circumstances, and 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 the significant investment in order to tackle the causes and symptoms of poverty.”