Teachers across North West report seeing hungry children in classrooms everyday
Shocking new research reveals that children across the North West are arriving at school so hungry they cannot concentrate, with teachers in Lancaster reporting seeing hungry pupils daily.
New findings from Affinity Workforce, carried out in November 2025, show that almost one in three teachers see hungry children every single day at the start of the school day.
The results come as the government announced last week the national rollout of free breakfast clubs to half a million children, a policy Affinity Workforce fully supports, and demonstrates the urgent need for intervention, as seen through the eyes of supply teachers working across hundreds of schools.
Teachers working across the region report children complaining of stomach aches, asking when lunch will be served and struggling to focus on morning lessons.
The research exposes a classroom crisis affecting thousands of pupils across Lancaster and the wider North West. Teachers report that in some schools up to half of children arrive without having eaten breakfast.
Six in ten teachers (59 per cent) say hunger significantly affects pupils' ability to learn in morning lessons. While seven in ten (70 per cent) say it affects classroom behaviour.
Teachers across the North West shared multiple examples of children arriving hungry. One teacher said: "When children are hungry it is all they can think about. They cannot focus on their work and instead just watch the clock waiting for lunch."
Almost half of teachers say the problem has grown over their career. Forty five per cent say they now see more hungry children than when they first started teaching.
In the shorter term, almost one in five teachers (19 per cent) say the situation has worsened over the past 12 months. Nearly half were unsure, reflecting the fragmented nature of supply work and variation between schools.
The research, conducted as part of Affinity's Before The Bell campaign, surveyed supply teachers working across primary and secondary schools in England, providing a wide view across a range of communities and classrooms.
The findings echo government data. The Family Resources Survey 2023-2024 found that 10 per cent of UK households are food insecure, with households with children twice as likely to be affected. The survey also reported that 90 per cent of households with very low food security did not use a food bank in the past month, highlighting significant unmet need.
In areas of high deprivation across the North West, teachers report the problem is particularly severe, with between 30 per cent and 50 per cent of pupils arriving hungry in some schools.
More than a third of schools (35 per cent) have no breakfast provision. Where breakfast clubs do exist, three in ten teachers (30 per cent) say the provision is insufficient to meet demand.
The biggest barrier preventing children from accessing breakfast is cost. Teachers identified paid breakfast clubs as the primary obstacle, alongside children arriving too late, lack of parental awareness and, in some cases, stigma associated with using breakfast provision.
"Some people cannot afford to provide breakfast and each class should have something to offer," one teacher said.
Teachers are overwhelmingly clear on the solution. Nine in ten (90 per cent) believe providing free breakfast for all pupils would significantly or moderately improve academic performance. An even higher proportion (96 per cent) believe it would improve behaviour and wellbeing. Nearly nine in ten teachers (88 per cent) who have observed pupils before and after eating breakfast reported a positive difference in performance or behaviour.
Esme Bianchi-Barry, CEO of Affinity Workforce, said: "Our supply teachers, through CER Education, work across hundreds of schools every week, including many across Liverpool, Merseyside and the wider North West. They see what is really happening in classrooms. These findings should shock us all into action. We cannot expect children to learn when they are hungry. We cannot expect teachers to teach classes where a third of pupils have not eaten.
"This is a crisis hiding in plain sight in schools across the region. That is why we have launched Before The Bell. We are not waiting for someone else to act. Starting in January, we will be providing free breakfasts to pupils at four primary schools for a full week. It is a start, but these findings show we need systemic change. No child should be too hungry to learn."
Affinity Workforce has launched Before The Bell, a campaign to tackle child hunger in schools. The company is funding free breakfast provision at four primary schools across England in January 2026. Winning schools will be announced after 25 November. For more information visit https://affinityworkforce.com/before-the-bell-fuel-for-learning/