A report published by the charity MYTIME Young Carers – entitled Overlooked and Overburdened – examines data collected from more than 10,500 young people who attend schools involved with its support programme.
The report uses the legal definition of a young carer as “a person under the age of 18 who provides care for another person”. It estimates that there could be as many as 900,000 pupils at schools in England (10%) with some kind of caring duty at home.
The study’s findings reveal that 46% of the young people involved are persistently absent from secondary school compared to 23% of their peers. Persistent absence of young carers in year 7 stood at 33% and rises to 53% for those in year 11.
A specific problem highlighted in the report is the introduction in many schools of the 30-minute rule, meaning that if a child is more than half an hour late they are recorded as absent.
The report states: “Young carers can often be late to school because of their caring responsibilities. Many have shared that now schools mark them absent if they are more that 30 minutes late, they will choose not to attend school to avoid being punished.”
One young carer, aged 16, said: “Why would I bother going in if I know that I am going to be late? I know I am going to get a detention and be marked down as absent, so I might as well stay at home.”
When it comes to GCSE outcomes, only 64% of the young carers in the report achieved a Grade 4 or higher in both English and maths compared to 71% of their peers.
Furthermore, only 37% achieve a Grade 5 or higher (compared to 51%), while only 4% achieved a Grade 7 or higher (compared to 15%).
Another young carer, aged 14, told the report: “I love reading and find school easy. It’s hard to balance the demands of homework with caring for my mum. When I can go into school I enjoy my lessons, but I don’t have the time to do as well as I could.”
The study also finds that 40% of young carers have been suspended from school at least once, compared to only 17% of their peers.
Young carers are more than twice as likely to receive an external suspension of between 1 to 5 days from school than their peers without a caring responsibility.
A young carer aged 12 explained: “I get no flexibility with homework, so I am in trouble all the time. I am told that I am lazy and they constantly moan about my appearance, pencil case, and other things that don’t matter. I have been suspended because I have a bad temper and sometimes when I am being punished for things that aren’t my fault, I just lose it.”
According to the study, young carers are more likely to be female (58%) and many young carers have SEND (33%) and receive free school meals (60%).
The report calls on the government to fund training for a Young Carer Champion in every school in a similar vein to the Senior Mental Health Lead training. It estimates this would cost £29m.
This role would be responsible for implementing a Young Carer Strategy to identify and support pupils, delivering training for school staff, and establishing Young Carer support groups to imrpove wellbeing, attendance and attainment.
MYTIME also wants to see a Young Carers Pupil Premium piloted in England.
Elsewhere, it is calling for young carers to be added to the Department for Education’s daily attendance reporting and as a criteria in Ofsted inspections, with the identification of young carers to be a compulsory part of the school census.
Krista Cartlidge, CEO of MYTIME Young Carers, said: "The findings raise serious concerns about the educational experiences and outcomes for young people who have a caring responsibility and the clear and urgent actions which must be taken to address those concerns.
“The data demonstrates the acute need for young carers to be identified as a distinct ‘group’ by Ofsted in the new education inspection framework.
“This top-down approach would ensure that schools were asked to report on the identification of young carers and the support being provided, to ensure their wellbeing, attendance and attainment is improved. Schools need to be provided with the right training and tools to both identify young carers and to support them adequately and appropriately.
“Without urgent action, we risk failing generations of children who provide care for their families and perpetuating or amplifying the inequalities they already face – effectively punishing children for caring.”
MYTIME Young Carers is a national charity dedicated to providing support and opportunities for young carers.
- MYTIME Young Carers: Overlooked and overburdened: Addressing the educational challenges faced by young carers, November 2024: Click here.