Parents given urgent warning over children wasting teachers’ time in school

Teachers are wasting a total of 2.4 hours of teaching time each day – 1.4 hours of which is taken up with kids not being toilet-trained, such as nappy changing or multiple accidents

Almost four in ten kids are turning up to reception not ready for school with teachers wasting hours every day doing things like toilet training, grim research shows.

Some 37% of children started reception without basic skills last year – up from 33% in 2024, Kindred Squared’s annual survey found.

Teachers are wasting a total of 2.4 hours of teaching time each day – 1.4 hours of which is taken up with kids not being toilet-trained, such as nappy changing or multiple accidents. Primary school staff said 28% of kids are turning up unable to eat and drink independently, 25% struggling with basic language skills and 26% not toilet trained.

Kindred warned school readiness inequalities are widening across the country, with sharper declines reported in the North East, West Midlands, North West and London. It said its research indicated that the proportion of kids not toilet-trained is as high as 36% in the North East

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Despite this, 88% of parents say their child is ready for school.

Teachers are feeling the pressure due to the additional workload of providing basic care, with many telling the study of high stress levels and low morale, the early years charity said. Some 57% of primary school staff believe parents should not even be allowed to send non-toilet-trained children to Reception.

More than half of staff cited children’s excessive screen time as the top cause of poor school readiness. The Government is currently updating guidance for screen time for under fives, which will be published in April.

Kindred’s research showed 94% of parents want national guidance on school readiness.

Keir Starmer has set a key target to get 75% of five-year-olds “school ready” by 2028. Ministers have since been rolling out Best Start Family Hubs across every area of the country to provide help with parenting skills, early development and childcare.

Felicity Gillespie, chief executive of Kindred Squared, said: “The state of school readiness has reached a critical moment with 37% of children now arriving at the school gate without the basic life skills needed to engage with the curriculum.

“This is no longer just a classroom issue; it is a systemic crisis fuelled by parents who lack the right information and understanding early enough to truly support their children’s development, overstretched school resources and the rising cost of living.”

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “More support before children start school in the early years is crucial – both for pupils and for families. As this report points out, it can be overwhelming for parents to know where to start and what to prioritise.

“Early identification and intervention to support children with SEND would also make a big difference – increasing levels of SEND will be partly causing these rising numbers.”

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said: “These survey findings, while deeply concerning are, sadly, not surprising. We have long lacked any cohesive system of early support in this country – not just settings that are adequately funded to deliver the high-quality provision all children need to thrive, but also accessible, quality family services that can help parents support their own children’s early learning and development.

“With the ongoing rollout of the Best Start in Life strategy, we hope that the coming months and years will see the development of a new approach to early years.”

A Department for Education spokesman said: “We are tackling child poverty by lifting the two-child benefit cap, backing families with 30 hours of funded childcare, opening a Best Start Family Hub in every local area, and developing the first ever national guidance on screen time for under-fives to help parents support their children’s development.

“We are seeing early signs of improvement, with more children reaching a good level of development by age five, but we know there is further to go. We inherited a system where disadvantage was allowed to deepen, and these findings underline the scale of the school readiness challenge we are determined to tackle, so every child gets the best possible start in life.” It pointed to figures showing 68.3% of children achieved a Good Level of Development in 2024/25, up from 67.7% the previous year.