Why an Award?

The Award hopes to flush out the bad toilets and reward the good ones.

Toilets are vital. They might be the smallest rooms in the school but they can have one of the biggest impacts on pupil health, education and happiness.

The School Toilet Award aims to award schools that are making an effort to ensure they meet national standard care. It will also work with schools that are not quite making the mark, offering support and introducing partner organisations to help.

The Facts

Access to minimum standard toilet facilities and drinking water in school are crucial to the health and well being of all children and young people.

For some health conditions (such as Crohn's disease, Ulcerative Colitis, IBS, cystic fibrosis and incontinence) open access to school toilets of an adequate standard can make the difference between being able to attend school regularly and not being able to do so regularly, if at all.

In excess of one in 12 (about 750,000) five to 16 year olds in the UK suffer from the stigma of incontinence - wetting and soiling (the involuntary escape or leakage of faeces).

Incontinence, as well as other health problems such as urinary infections and constipation could be avoided, alleviated or eradicated with improved school toilets standards and access and by encouraging good levels of water intake during the school day.

The findings

• A survey of school children at an outpatients clinic found that 1 in 4 had problems relating to constipation.
• A survey of nurses and incontinence specialists in the Nursing Times in 2010 found that all believed that school toilets are a contributing factor to incontinence in children.
• In a separate survey of school staff 84% reported that toilet related health problems have a negative effect on learning.
• Many pupils suffer from health problems relating to poor toilets and restricted access. Research from the UK Youth Parliament put this figure as high as 1 in 4 at secondary school level.

Read more about the above findings on our survey results page.

School toilets can not only spread colds and flu but also serious infectious disease. That's another reason for making sure they are clean and hygienic and equipped with good facilities that allow pupils to wash and dry their hands properly.

The reasons for the Award don't stop at health and welfare. Schools from the three-year pilot of the Award report a positive influence on pupils' willingness and ability to learn, their behaviour, self-esteem, morale and attendance levels.

This page outlines some of the reasons why focusing on school toilets is important - click here.

This page written by our health experts explains some of the continence problems caused or exacerbated by school toilets - click here.

This page written by our health experts and teachers offers guidance to schools on facilities and access - click here.