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Parents typically need to find at least £39 per week for a child’s secondary school education and £19 for a primary-aged child, research for Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) finds.

Many children and families find it challenging to manage the many costs associated with going to school. This can have a knock-on effect on children’s experiences of school life and their outcomes. The Cost of the School Day project, inspired by Children North East’s Poverty Proofing© work, was started by CPAG in Scotland in 2014 with the aim of reducing the financial barriers that prevent pupils from fully participating in the school day. In 2019 it expanded to more areas in Scotland, and launched in Wales and England, in partnership with Children North East. As the expanded project draws to a close, what changes has it achieved for children? What has been learned about this type of work? And what would CPAG do differently next time?

Recently, there have been lots of free school meals (FSM) numbers floating around. But what do they all mean? And how can we piece them together?

At a time of sharply increasing costs and stretched family budgets, ensuring that children have all they need to take part in school is another worry for families. The guide will help schools consider how they’re already supporting families and how they can make small changes to policies, practices and communications to help families through times of economic difficulty.

In this guide we set out some small steps schools can take to help make learning more accessible for children and families living in poverty in Wales.

From breakfast clubs to sports activities, before- and after-school provision benefits children and their families hugely. These clubs and activities help children engage with learning and feel fulfilled at school, and they help parents financially by allowing them to work or take up more hours. Unfortunately, many families don’t get to benefit from these clubs, either because they’re too expensive or because they’re not available.

A joint briefing with Magic Breakfast outlining the economic case for before- and after-school provision.

1 in 3 school-age children in England living in poverty (800,000) miss out on free school meals despite cost of living struggles of families. The main causes are restrictive eligibility criteria and lack of universal provision.

London is one of the greatest and richest cities in the world. But for too many Londoners and their children, proximity to the city’s affluence does not mean sharing in this wealth – adequate employment, affordable housing and fit-for-purpose childcare are often out of reach. In fact, after accounting for housing costs, London has the highest rate of child poverty of any region in the UK. We asked our London Calling panel what they want their councillors to prioritise. They highlighted five main themes: childcare, free school meals, housing, children’s activities and community engagement.

The Cost of Having Fun at School captures the experiences of pupils and parents with school fun, highlighting what we've heard from Cost of the School Day focus groups with over 8,000 pupils as well as the views of parents and carers.