Teachers and unions express significant concerns that increasingly hot classrooms are making it difficult for students to learn and for staff to teach, with reports of children overheating, feeling ill, and passing out.
Some schools are implementing local measures to mitigate the heat, such as relaxing uniform policies to allow PE kits or shorts, advising students to bring water bottles, and encouraging breaks in shady areas.
Unions and bodies like the Climate Change Committee and Trades Union Congress are campaigning for a maximum temperature limit for schools, arguing it would encourage investment in heat-resilient infrastructure like air conditioning.
The Department for Education currently advises against school closures in hot weather, prioritising attendance, but states it is “carefully considering” proposals for maximum temperature limits following calls from unions.
