Teachers in England’s secondary schools are almost twice as likely to say misogyny and sexism are a top concern than to point to the curriculum, according to a wide-ranging report by the Children’s Commissioner.
The 110-page review, compiled by Dame Rachel de Souza, found that schools are focusing heavily on social issues beyond classroom instruction, with problems including attendance, online safety, child and adolescent mental health services and the funding of wider local services ranked among their primary worries. Dame Rachel intends to present the findings at a conference later on Monday.
The report, which sought responses from every school in England, achieved a roughly 90% response rate. In the section titled "Findings," Dame Rachel states: "Secondary schools were almost twice as worried about misogyny and sexism as curriculum." Staff also placed online safety among their top four concerns.
More than three in five secondary schools cited a lack of funding for wider services as a barrier to pupil attainment: 81% of teachers in secondary schools reported that underfunded social services were hindering students' ability to achieve their best grades. The report said more secondary schools expressed greater concern about the funding of wider local services — such as health and housing — than about their own school budgets.
Attendance emerged as a leading worry for secondary schools. The report said about 39,000 children were not in any form of school and were receiving no education at all. Dame Rachel called the attendance decline "the single biggest issue facing the government," and warned that more than one in ten young people are consistently not in education, employment or training, known as NEET. "Solving this is not just a moral imperative but an economic one," she said in comments included with the report.
The study also highlighted pressures on mental health services. Nearly one million children were referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, and CAMHS was listed among the top four concerns for 70% of primary schools and 78% of secondary schools, the report said. Additional indicators of social vulnerability among pupils included roughly 95,000 children with a parent in prison and about 164,000 living in temporary housing.
On academic outcomes, the report noted that more than a third of pupils fail to achieve a pass at GCSE in English and maths. Fewer than two-thirds of children surveyed said they enjoy school, the report added.
Dame Rachel, who became Children’s Commissioner in March 2021, said the findings should form a "blueprint" for further education reform. The document frames many school-level concerns as entwined with pressures outside the school gate, arguing that shortcomings in public services and social supports are reflected in classroom outcomes and pupil wellbeing.
The report’s authors recommend that policymakers consider the broader service landscape around schools when designing education reforms, and they urge action on attendance and mental health provision. The findings are likely to feed into ongoing debates in Westminster over priorities for education policy and funding.
Government departments and local authorities were not immediately available for comment. The Children’s Commissioner’s office said the report reflects returns from nearly all schools contacted and is intended to guide ministers, education leaders and local partners as they address the intersecting challenges affecting pupils.