The UK’s intense June heatwave resulted in a substantial disruption to education, with pupils in England and Wales missing at least 15 million hours of classroom time as rising temperatures prompted hundreds of schools to close or to send pupils home early, according to research published this week.
Scale of disruption
The investigation, which combined reported school closures with official absence figures, found that at least 760,000 schoolchildren were affected by closures during the heatwave. More than 1,700 schools either shut completely or ended the school day early as indoor temperatures in some classrooms exceeded 40°C (around 104°F).
| Measure | Reported figure |
|---|---|
| Teaching hours lost | 15 million |
| Pupils affected by closures | 760,000 |
| Schools closed or finished early | 1,700+ |
| Duration of heatwave | Eight days |
| Excess deaths (May and June) | Nearly 2,900 |
Children, staff and classrooms under strain
Teachers and support staff reported episodes of heat-related illness among pupils and colleagues. Behaviour and concentration reportedly deteriorated as classrooms became unbearably hot, making effective learning difficult in many settings. One teacher, a safety representative for the National Education Union, described the scene as staff and pupils suffered from heat stress and fainting.
“Staff and pupils were fainting and at least one of my colleagues was taken to A&E,”
Where schools stayed open, the report found that absence rates spiked because parents judged it safer to keep children at home. In other cases, teachers said lessons were reduced to managing pupils’ comfort rather than delivering normal curricula.
Wider context and immediate consequences
The heatwave stretched across eight days and led to a red health alert in large parts of the country. The emergency affected more than education: hospitals cancelled operations, some workplaces reduced hours, and public health warnings advised against travel. Data compiled for the period covering May and June attributed nearly 2,900 excess deaths to the heatwaves.
Researchers behind the study say their work offers the clearest picture yet of how extreme heat is affecting schooling in the UK. By combining closure reports with attendance data, the analysis highlights both the direct impact of forced closures and the more dispersed effect of parental decisions to keep children at home.
- Immediate learning loss: Millions of teaching hours were lost, affecting continuity at all key stages.
- Health and welfare risks: Staff and pupils experienced heat-related symptoms, with at least one teacher taken to A&E, underlining welfare concerns for vulnerable children.
- Policy implications: The findings raise questions about school buildings, cooling measures and emergency planning as extreme weather events become more frequent.
Education leaders and unions have previously warned that many school buildings are not designed for sustained high temperatures, and that lack of investment in infrastructure leaves pupils and staff exposed during extreme weather. The study amplifies those warnings by providing quantified estimates of disruption.
For headteachers and local authorities, the research will sharpen focus on contingency planning — from adapting timetables and ventilation strategies to considering temporary closures when heat risks become acute. For families and teachers, the findings are a reminder of the human cost of climate-related events on everyday school life.
As heatwaves become a more common feature of the UK climate, the education sector faces a pressing choice: invest to make schools safe and teachable during extremes, or expect repeated short-term closures and mounting lost learning and welfare impacts for pupils and staff.
