A new survey of teachers and workshop with students by fuel poverty charity National Energy Action reveals the impacts of fuel poverty in the classroom.
- Survey data shows four in five (82%) educators reported seeing pupils wearing the same/unwashed clothes.
- 39% of educators had encountered students explicitly mentioning being cold at home.
- 25% had seen students talking about not having access to heating or hot water at home.
National Energy Action (NEA) publishes a new report ‘A Warm Home, A Fair Chance’², featuring two evidence bases. This includes a UK-wide survey of over 100 educators³ – including teachers, headteachers and teaching assistants – and testimony from young people themselves, captured through National Energy Action’s Youth Insights for Change workshops⁴.
Together, they reveal the scale and severity of fuel poverty’s impact on pupils’ wellbeing, attainment and attendance, as well as the growing strain on schools and staff.
Michala Sullivan, Training Programme Delivery Manager, National Energy Action, says:
‘As an ex‑secondary school teacher, I have seen first‑hand the impact that poverty – and particularly fuel poverty – can have on children’s ability to focus, engage, and academically achieve. This research reinforces that my experience was not isolated, more and more schools and teachers now play a role in providing additional support such as food, help with washing clothes, and wider family assistance.
In response to this need, National Energy Action developed the ‘Fuel Poverty Aware Schools’ badge. Our aim is to ensure that every school we work with feels confident, informed, and equipped to play an active role in tackling fuel poverty within their community.’
Cold homes have a serious impact
Survey data shows 39% of educators had encountered students explicitly mentioning being cold at home, and 25% had seen students talking about not having access to heating or hot water at home.
‘As an exercise in class, we designed a software system for an automated house. This involved asking students what temperature they would put the heating on. Answers were often very low (0-10 degrees), with some students explaining they wrapped up warm to avoid putting the heating on.’ – Secondary school survey respondent
Seventy-nine per cent of survey respondents reported poor physical health among students affected by fuel poverty. Health impacts of cold homes mentioned by educators included:
- Increased coughs, colds, chest infections, bronchial issues
- Mould exposure causing respiratory problems (teachers explicitly referenced widespread mould in children’s homes)
- Fatigue from poor sleep and cold living conditions
- Mental health concerns: anxiety, stress about finances, distress at home environment
Schools and staff are under intense strain
All educators interviewed described schools now acting as the fourth emergency service, with respondents reporting emotional strain (66%), increased workload (61%), greater reliance on school resources (72%), and educators using their own money (51%).
‘This is getting worse every year. We come home and cry about it,’ said one primary teacher respondent. They continued, ‘We’re choosing between heating our own homes or buying gloves and snacks for our pupils.’
Young lives are blighted
In National Energy Action’s Youth Insights for Change workshops, many students described staying in bed under covers as a heat saving strategy and avoiding being at home (spending time at friends’ homes or clubs) to keep warm. One child talked about school as the ‘safe, warm space’.
Workbook responses repeatedly mentioned not inviting friends home; fearing judgement of a ‘cold, smelly, mouldy’ home; feeling left out; and spending time at friends’ houses to avoid being at home.
How to solve this
The evidence points to multiple solutions that could alleviate these problems:
- Warm homes standards that prioritise children and damp/mould enforcement across tenures and all UK nations
- Child‑focused retrofit and insulation programmes
- Income support and energy debt protections, with tiered support for families with children
- Funded breakfast/warm spaces in schools
- Accessible crisis support and wraparound referrals through trusted settings
ENDS
Notes to editors
- National Energy Action (NEA), is the national fuel poverty charity, working across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, to improve the lives of people in fuel poverty. We directly support people with energy and income maximisation advice, and we advocate on issues such as the current energy crisis and the need to improve the energy efficiency of our homes. See: www.nea.org.uk.
- Read the report here: https://www.nea.org.uk/publications/a-warm-home-a-fair-chance/
- Between October and December 2025 National Energy Action surveyed 101 educators from across the UK to understand if and how they feel fuel poverty and financial hardship affects the students they work with.
- Youth Insights for Change workshop delivered at a secondary school in an area of England with a high local rate of fuel poverty and other indicators of deprivation. The workshop involved students from Years 7 to 11.
If this goes online, please link to https://www.nea.org.uk/energy-crisis/. We are on Twitter/X: @NEA_UKCharity and Bluesky: @nea.org.uk.