Dozens of councils to give out potty training guides to parents as 1 in 4 children arrive at school in nappies

Published: 15:51 BST, 5 October 2026 | Updated: 00:20 BST, 6 October 2026

Up to 20 councils are to give potty training guides to parents after data showed one in four children arrive at school in nappies. 

The local authorities plan to deliver the leaflets alongside primary place offers from the spring. 

A survey of teachers found one in four children nationwide last year were not toilet trained when they started reception class – ages four to five. 

Teachers were wasting on average an hour and 24 minutes a day dealing with toilet accidents.

The charity Kindred Squared, which undertook the research, has already funded a pilot of the scheme for City of York Council, resulting in a 46 per cent reduction in this problem.

Primary school offers are made in April each year, meaning parents have five months to put the guides into practice.

Among the councils planning to sign up to the scheme are Hounslow, North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire, Rotherham, Hampshire, Suffolk, Halton, London Borough of Redbridge, Cheshire West & Chester and Solihull.

However, Iain Mansfield, head of education at the think-tank Policy Exchange said: 'Unless there is a genuine physical disability, four is remarkably late for a child to be being potty-trained.

Dozens of councils are set to give out potty training guides to parents after data showed one in four children arrive at school in nappies (file picture)

'We are witnessing a further example of the collapse of parental responsibility, with the state once more stepping in to do a role it was never intended to fulfil.'

Tory peer Baroness Maclean of Redditch said on X: 'This is a potty idea. The government shouldn't be toilet training children. It is the responsibility of their parents.

'We need to bring back the concept of shame. Parents should feel embarrassed that their child is in nappies at age four and stir themselves to grip the problem.

'Don't have children if you don't want to deal with the challenges that come with raising them.'

In the York scheme, 1,700 families were sent hard copies of a potty training guide on Primary National Offer Day, April 16, 2026.

The guide provided detailed advice and said the ideal age to potty train is between 18 and 30 months old, unless a child has a medical condition preventing this.

It added: 'It's really important that children are out of all nappies well in advance of starting Reception year in school.'

Leaflets were also distributed at libraries and GP surgeries, and drop-in sessions were laid on for parents.

The 55 mainstream primary schools covered by the scheme reported 85 out of 1,374 (6 per cent) not being toilet trained in 2026, a decrease compared with 148 out of 1,364 (11 per cent) the year before.

Jo Mould, a teacher at Robert Wilkinson Primary Academy in York, said of the pilot: 'We don't have to spend so much time changing children now.

'For safeguarding reasons it took two people to change a child and that meant taking those two members of staff out of the classroom.'

Felicity Gillespie, chief executive of Kindred Squared, said: 'These impressive results are making such a huge difference. On average, teachers have been losing the equivalent of a day a week of teaching time helping children who are not able to go to the toilet themselves.'

Early education minister Paul Waugh said: 'Toilet training can be one of the biggest milestones in a child's early years, so it's encouraging to see this pilot helping more children develop the confidence and independence they need before starting school.'