Half of teachers surveyed at state schools in the UK work at a school with pupils who are or have become homeless in the past year, according to research.
Charity Shelter’s polling also suggested teachers think the problem is only going to get worse next year.
The latest statistics, published by the Government in November, showed there were 138,930 children in temporary accommodation – a form of homelessness – in England at the end of June.
This is a record high since the measure was first recorded in 2004.
Shelter commissioned a YouGov survey of 1,017 state school teachers at primary and secondary schools in the UK last month on their experiences of the consequences of what the charity described as the “housing emergency” at their schools.
Across the UK 48% of teachers said their school had children who are homeless or who had become homeless in previous 12 months.
For England alone this rose slightly to 49%.
Almost two thirds (64%) of state school teachers across the UK said they think the number of children who are homeless or living in bad housing will increase over the next calendar year at their school.
The vast majority of teachers working with children who have experienced homelessness in the past year said children’s housing issues are resulting in them coming to school tired, Shelter said.
