thetimes.com, 14th December 2025
Families are increasingly asked to plug funding gaps, as better-off and grammar school parents are most likely to face requests, according to a poll
The biggest poll of parents about education finds more than two fifths have been asked to pay towards the day-to-day running of their child’s school.
Well-off parents and those with children at grammar schools are most likely to be pressured to contribute to the basics. Families face expensive uniforms and school trips.
The survey of 6,000 parents of school-aged children in England found they believed that funding cuts, behaviour and mobile phones were the three biggest issues facing schools.
Research was conducted by Public First on behalf of the Parent Voice Project, an organisation that wants parental opinions to inform and influence policy debates. The polling was nationally representative and accompanied by focus groups.
It found 41 per cent of parents had been asked to make a contribution to daily running costs at their child’s school, and for 19 per cent it had happened on multiple occasions.
Forty seven per cent of affluent parents had been asked for contributions, compared with 35 per cent of those who were less well-off. Parents in London were more likely to be expected to donate than the rest of the country and grammar schools asked for money more than comprehensives (56 per cent compared with 38 per cent).
One mother from Trafford with children aged eight and 15, said: “The system’s broken, isn’t it? It’s at a massive crisis point. It’s about funding, and it’s not just this government or the one before, it’s historical. They’re not putting enough money into education.”
Another parent said: “Schools don’t have enough money and if they want to do anything nice, they have to ask the parents to fund it.”
Thirteen per cent of parents said they regularly struggle to afford school uniform, with a further 33 per cent saying they struggle occasionally, with parents of secondary school children finding it more difficult than those with children at primary schools.
One parent said: “You’re spending up to £300 on school uniform in the lead-up to September.” There was broad support for uniforms but many parents report being required to purchase several branded items, with 19 per cent being asked to buy five or more.