Pupils 'lack access to textbooks'

The survey found 47% of pupils shared books during lessons

Two thirds of pupils in state secondary schools do not have the use of textbooks for doing their homework, research suggests.

A survey of 34,000 pupils in England, aged 11 to 16, also found 47% shared books during lessons.

This is not a simple piece of research which points to funding as the main issue

Mike Johnson

Over a four- year period, researchers at Keele University quizzed the pupils about their use of textbooks in English, maths, science, geography, history and religious education.

The biggest shortages were found to be in RE, for which 88% of children had no textbooks for homework, and 59% had to share in class.

There were no textbooks available for homework for 76% of pupils in both English and history, 75% in science and 81% in geography.

In maths, 45% of pupils had no homework textbooks and 29% had to share in class, the researchers found.

'Not just funding'

Mike Johnson, who carried out the research, said the issue was not simply a matter of economy.

"This is not a simple piece of research which points to funding as the main issue," Mr Johnson stressed.

"A lot of pupils don't actually get to take books out of school very often, because they are not trusted to do so.

"And of course there are some teachers whose teaching style doesn't depend so much on textbooks."

Online learning

Mr Johnson also pointed to the increase in online-based lessons.

"There's a weight of financing going into ICT-based learning.

"A lot of learning is moving over to IT, but some teachers have a lack of confidence about their capability in this area.

"So we are moving to a different methodology without the people with the skills to implement it - but in the meantime have a lack of books," he said.

'National disgrace'

But chairman of the School Book Alliance, Professor Michael Marland, said the shortage could undermine the basis of secondary education and affect young people's chances of success at GCSE.

It was a national disgrace that children were expected to do their homework without textbooks, especially as those most affected were least likely to have their own resources for home research, Professor Marland said.

"Sharing books during lessons is equally damaging because no two children read and assimilate information at the same speed and in the same way," he said.