More than a quarter of children starting school last year weren’t fully toilet trained, a startling new survey reveals. Even more worryingly, nearly a third struggle with basic skills like handling books properly.
Kids Swiping Pages Like Smartphones!
Early years charity Kindred Squared surveyed primary school staff and found that almost 30% of reception starters couldn’t use books correctly. Some kids even tried to swipe or tap pages — just like on a phone or tablet.
Teachers also reported a jump in kids being “not school ready” — up to 37% from 33% the previous year. Struggling extends to simple tasks too: 28% couldn’t eat or drink without help, and 25% faced difficulties with basic life skills.
Toilet Trouble Costs Schools Hours Every Day
The survey highlighted that 26% of children had frequent toilet accidents. The figure spikes to 36% in the North East. Staff spend an eye-watering average of 1.4 hours daily dealing with toileting issues. Altogether, schools lose 2.4 hours of precious teaching time every day due to pupils’ lack of basic skills.
Screen Time Takes the Blame
Over half of the school staff blame too much screen time — both for kids and parents — as a key factor behind poor school readiness.
The government’s target is for 75% of children to be school-ready by 2028. Official stats show 68.3% hit a good level of development by the end of reception in 2024/25. However, 88% of parents still believe their kids are ready to start school.
