40 per cent of teachers not able to identify a young carer

New research by children’s charity Barnardo's shows that 40 per cent of teachers were not confident they would be able to identify a pupil that is caring for a sick or disabled family member at home.

Teachers and other professionals working with children have a legal duty to identify young carers and refer them to the local authority to be assessed for support.

More than a third (34%) of teachers surveyed thought there were young carers at their school who were not sufficiently supported and almost a third (29%) said they didn’t think their school had any particular ways of supporting young carers.

This is despite some children and young people carrying out more than 30 hours a week of caring responsibilities – almost the equivalent of a full-time job – and filling in the gaps left in adult social care.

The YouGov poll of 800 teachers found that nine-in-10 teachers thought caring responsibilities could impact negatively on young carers’ school lives as it could mean they were late or absent from school or have trouble keeping up with work.