Four in 10 teachers are not able to identify a young carer in their class, children’s charity Barnardo’s has found.

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.

But 40 per cent of the 808 teachers polled by the charity said they were not confident that they would recognise a young carer in their class.

Of those polled, 34 per cent said there were young carers at their school who are not sufficiently supported, and 29 per cent do not think their school has any particular methods for supporting young carers.

The survey also asked young carers if they could estimate the number of hours a week they spent on caregiving. A quarter said their care responsibilities take up over 30 hours of their time every week, which is almost the equivalent of a full-time job.

This work involves tasks such as cooking, cleaning and shopping, as well as intimate personal care, administering drugs and taking care of household finances.

Read the full article on Schools Week.