Most teachers say at least one child has been homeless at their school in the past year, a survey shows.
Some 31 per cent of the teachers surveyed said that a child or children they had personally taught or interacted with was homeless.
And a further 20 per cent said they were aware of at least one child at their school whom they did not teach who had been experiencing homelessness.
In the survey of 7,127 state school teachers in England, commissioned by charity Shelter, teachers in London were by far the most likely to report working with children who were homeless in the past 12 months.
More than 175,000 children in England are homeless in temporary accommodation as of 2025, .
Children suffering homelessness
Some 45 per cent of London teachers surveyed had personally worked with a child who was homeless, and a further 28 per cent were aware of at least one child in their school whom they did not teach who was homeless.
More than a third of teachers responding to the poll in the North West (35 per cent) and South West (35 per cent) also said a pupil they personally taught or interacted with had been homeless in the past year.
In the survey, carried out by Teacher Tapp, 53 per cent of teachers in the Midlands said they had worked at a school in the past year where at least one child was homeless.
The regions with the lowest proportion of teachers aware of at least one child experiencing homelessness at their school were Yorkshire and the North East (41 per cent collectively).
Sarah Elliott, chief executive of Shelter, said: “The housing emergency is infiltrating our classrooms and robbing children of their most basic need of a safe and secure home. Children shouldn’t have to try and balance their studies with the horrific experience of homelessness.
“Teachers are witnessing the same devastating effects of growing up in temporary accommodation on children that our services see every day.”
Ms Elliott added: “Feeling cut off and isolated, children are showing up to school exhausted after long commutes from accommodation that is many miles away.
“Others are struggling to concentrate whilst dreading another night in a cramped bed-and-breakfast room where they have no space or privacy to study for crucial exams.”
Impact on exams
A separate poll Shelter commissioned from the NASUWT teaching union found that of 263 teachers who had worked with homeless children, 76 per cent said homelessness had led to those children doing poorly in their exams.
Three in four also said it had a significant impact on the mental health of the child. Nearly all (92 per cent) said homelessness meant children had arrived at school tired, and eight in 10 said it meant they had missed days of school.
NASUWT general secretary Matt Wrack said that the lack of a safe and permanent home puts children’s future life chances at risk.
“Homelessness is taking an enormous physical and emotional toll on children and young people, which is adversely affecting their education and ability to learn,” he said.
Earlier this month the government launched its new child poverty strategy, including a plan to “end the unlawful placement of families in bed and breakfasts beyond the six-week limit”.
Councils would also have a legal duty to notify schools, health visitors and GPs when a child is placed in temporary accommodation, in an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill that is going through Parliament.
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