Back to school should be an exciting time. New subjects, new friends, new lessons to be learned. But for over 150,000 children in the UK, going back to school represents a whole new set of challenges.
Because the number of children living in temporary accommodation has now risen to 177,530. This is another 5% increase since 2025 and the 18th quarterly increase in a row.
With 1 in every 78 school-age children experiencing homelessness, we can’t ignore the impact this instability is having as they return to school.
The impact of homelessness on school children
Lengthy journeys
Families often have no control over where they’re placed when it comes to temporary accommodation. Many will be moved a long way from their child’s school, making travel to and from extremely challenging (and often expensive).
A 2023 report stated that some families were spending upwards of £300 a month to get their children to school. While there are provisions in place (free school bus passes for those eligible for free school meals, for example), these usually rely on children attending their nearest qualifying school, not one that’s miles out of the area.
For a number of families, they’re faced with the difficult decision of paying for travel or paying for food, meaning that many children are kept home from school because they simply can’t get there. In their ‘Homelessness in the Classroom’ report, Shelter found that more than one in three children miss more than a day of school per month.
No suitable study space
Homework is a normal part of school life, followed by revision and exam preparation for older students.
But even finding a quiet place to get through homework becomes difficult when you’re crammed in with parents and siblings in small, temporary accommodation. 84% of teachers surveyed in Shelter’s ‘Homelessness in the Classroom’ report said they’d worked directly with children who struggled to complete homework as a result of their living situation.
Digital poverty can also make it challenging to get independent work done. While some areas can provide tablets or laptops to children experiencing homelessness, this is very much a postcode lottery and dependent on school and local authority budgets. There’s no nationwide guarantee.
Classroom behaviour
Shelter’s ‘Homelessness in the Classroom’ report gives us insight into the complex variety of behaviours that appear when a child is experiencing homelessness.
Things like showing up to school with an incomplete or dirty uniform or having had no breakfast can create feelings of shame or low self-esteem. Some children become very withdrawn and, understandably, have a hard time focusing and holding onto information they’re taught.
Some become frustrated or overwhelmed because of the emotional load they carry. In some cases, this might result in lashing out or difficulties managing their temper and emotions. Unfortunately, many children become completely disengaged from school.
Academic attainment
While of course academic results aren’t the be-all and end-all, all children deserve to leave school with choices for their future. Performance and results in school can tell us a lot about how children are doing. Teachers are doing everything they can to give children living in temporary accommodation the best chance when they leave school, but unfortunately, the odds are against them.
Over 80% of teachers in the ‘Homelessness in the Classroom’ report said that children experiencing homelessness have a harder time keeping up with the curriculum. Over 75% said that experiencing homelessness has led to poor performance in assessments or exams.
A 2025 report by the Children’s Commissioner shows us just how impactful housing instability can be on a child’s performance at school. Children whose postcode never changed between reception and Year 11 are more likely to achieve five GCSEs. 65% achieved this in 2022/23 compared to 50% with three home moves in their school life and just 11% of those with ten or more home moves.
Mental wellbeing
More important than any results, homelessness has a long-term impact on a child’s mental (and sometimes physical) wellbeing and their sense of self.
For children who experience housing instability from a young age, they can feel very isolated from their peers at school, and often feel ashamed or embarrassed about their situation. You remember the feeling of wanting to fit in at school. Experiencing homelessness can make this extremely difficult for children.
Centre Point’s ‘The mental health needs of homeless young people’ revealed the extent of mental health challenges for young people experiencing homelessness. Over 50% are faced with mental health difficulties (with 75% managing multiple conditions), compared to 10-20% of young people who aren’t experiencing homelessness.
Over 4,000 children are estimated to be living in temporary accommodation in the Yorkshire and Humber region. Hundreds, if not thousands, of those children will be trying to balance school, homework and relationships with so much uncertainty about where home is.
This is just one of the reasons we won’t give up on ending homelessness. Because every child should know what ‘home’ feels like. To play your part in ending homelessness, please donate to Simon on the Streets or sign up for an event.