2026 UK Primary School Survey Results: Detailed Summary Of Lost Property

Lost property is a significant issue for many schools. Two-thirds rank their lost property as medium (7-8) or high severity (9-10).

49% report medium problems, 18% severe problems, and 33% mild problems. The largest proportion (27%) rank their lost property issues at 8 out of 10, with 22% ranking their issues at 7 out of 10.

Larger schools are more likely to report severe lost property problems. They have more pupils and belongings on site with more opportunities for items to go missing.

60% of schools with mild issues have fewer than 200 pupils, 61% with medium issues have 200-500 pupils, while 55% with severe issues have over 500 pupils. Only 3% of the smallest schools report severe problems, while 2% of the biggest schools report mild problems.

Nearly all schools store lost property. Just over half rely on a single storage area with the rest using multiple areas across classrooms, office space, and reception.

Only 2% of schools do not keep lost property. 58% use a single point of storage for lost property, while 40% use multiple storage areas.

Schools with multiple storage areas are more likely to rank their lost property problems as severe. This could indicate that multiple storage areas are less effective or could simply be a natural result of more lost property needing more space. 

63% of schools with mild lost property use a single storage area; 58% of schools with medium lost property and 45% of schools with severe lost property use a single storage area. 

Schools regularly allocate time to sorting lost property. Most schools sort on a regular basis, with half sorting lost items on a weekly or monthly basis.

The largest proportion of schools report that lost property is sorted on a termly basis (42%), while 26% sort weekly and 24% sort monthly. The remaining schools sort lost property once a year (6%) or were unsure if they had a regular schedule (2%). 

Many schools try to limit lost property by storing lost items for a limited period. Over two-thirds of schools store lost items for no longer than 3 months. A number of schools keep items for at least a year, or even indefinitely, because they lack the resources to deal with lost property more regularly.

Most schools keep lost items for 1-3 months (64%). 5% keep items for less than a month, while 6% keep items for more than 3 months but less than a year. 14% of schools report that lost items are kept for at least a year, while 3% keep items indefinitely. 1% said lost property was disposed of immediately. The rest were unsure or said it varied or depended on the conditions in school. 

Most schools consider lost property to be an administrative issue that is handled by office staff, rather than teaching staff. This is true for both ongoing and day to day management of lost property, although teaching staff are more involved with handling day to day issues.

76% of schools rely on office staff to manage lost property overall, with 64% reporting that office staff also handle lost property issues on a day to day basis.

Schools with more severe lost property issues are more likely to rely on office staff for both ongoing and day to day management of lost property.

65% of schools with a mild problem rely on office staff to manage lost property compared with 80%-85% for schools with medium and severe problems. Likewise, 52% rely on office staff for day to day lost property issues compared to 71%-70%.

Most unclaimed lost property is additional layers of clothing, such as top layers and outerwear. Almost all schools suggest jumpers, sweaters, cardigans, sweatshirts, and hoodies are most likely to go unclaimed. Outerwear, coats, winter accessories, and P.E. kit are also frequently left unclaimed. These items of clothing are easily (and frequently) removed, making them easier to lose.

90% of schools suggest jumpers, sweaters, cardigans, sweatshirts, and hoodies are among the top three unclaimed items. 41% have issues with outwear and coats, 27% with winter accessories (hats, gloves, and scarves), and 19% with P.E. kit. The most commonly unclaimed item of non-clothing is water bottles (24%). Other commonly unclaimed items are lunchboxes (11%), shoes and socks (7%), jewellery and accessories (4%), and t-shirts or polo shirts (3%). 

Lost property is not confined to a single age group as over a third of schools indicate that lost property is a school-wide issue. Younger pupils are more likely to lose their belongings with over half of schools identifying Years 1 to 3 as the most likely individual classes to lose items.

While 37% of schools report that lost property is spread across all year groups, Year 2 is the individual class most likely to lose items (21%), closely followed by Year 3 (20%) and Year 1 (19%).

School-wide lost property and older year groups are more likely to be associated with severe lost property issues, while milder issues are associated with younger year groups.

43% of schools with medium lost property and 36% of schools with severe lost property point to school-wide problems compared with 28% of schools with mild lost property. 68% of schools with mild issues identify Reception to Year 2 as the most likely to lose items, 70% of schools with medium issues identify Years 1 to 4, while 78% of schools with severe issues identify Years 3 to 6.

Unlabelled items make up the majority of lost property, indicating that name labels are an effective way to prevent items ending up unclaimed in lost property storage. Two-thirds of schools report that less than 25% of items in lost property are labelled.

66% of schools report that less than 25% of lost property is labelled, while just 13% report that over 75% of lost items are labelled.

Schools are struggling to get items labelled with only a handful reporting that the majority of school uniform and kit is labelled. Most schools report that less than half of school items are labelled.

Only 3% of schools say 75-100% of school items are labelled. In almost half of schools (48%), just 25-50% of items are labelled. 28% report that 50-75% is labelled and 21% report that under 25% is labelled.

This is despite clear evidence that labelling school kit reduces the severity of lost property issues.

Where less than 25% of school kit is labelled, 7% of schools report mild lost property problems, 22% medium lost property problems, and 49% severe lost property problems. Where more than 50% of school kit is labelled, 45% of schools report mild issues, 28% medium issues, and 9% severe issues.

Lost property creates numerous problems, which primarily fall on parents and school staff. Over half of schools identify parents as the group most affected by lost property, with over a quarter recognising office staff as most affected. While parents ultimately hold financial responsibility, managing lost property places a notable burden on administrative staff.

The majority of schools identify parents (56%) or office staff (27%) as the most affected by lost property. Fewer schools identify pupils (11%) or teachers (6%) as being most affected.

Lost property is predominantly an ongoing and unchanging issue with over two-thirds of schools reporting that lost property is the same as last year. However, a notable proportion of schools feel that lost property is getting worse over time.

68% of schools report that they are dealing with the same levels of lost property as last year. 19% report that the issue is getting worse with just 13% suggesting things are getting better.

Schools with less severe lost property problems mostly feel the situation is stable or improving. None of the schools with severe issues say things are getting better and are more likely to say things are getting worse. 

Schools with mild issues say lost property is the same (78%) or getting better (18%). In schools with medium issues, 69% say lost property is the same and 17% say it is worse. In schools with severe issues, 45% say lost property is the same and 55% say it is worse.

An overwhelming majority of schools believe that lost property problems could be resolved by parents making sure that all school uniform and kit is labelled. Schools also point to better management of lost property, more teacher involvement, and free labelling solutions as ways to tackle lost property.

Name labels are identified as the best solution to lost property by 88% of schools, while 42% want more involvement, responsibility, and accountability from parents. Only 15% suggest that children should take on greater responsibility, while 10% point to better management of lost property (5%), teacher involvement (3%), and free labelling solutions (2%).

Schools have employed a variety of ideas to try to reduce lost property with very mixed results.

Over a third suggest that better management of and accessibility to lost property is most successful, while around a third indicate that promoting name labels, regularly reminding parents to label items, and selling or donating lost property are also useful solutions.

Other suggestions include the school taking on responsibility for labelling items, offering free label samples, and getting volunteers (especially PTAs and pupil representatives) involved in managing lost property.

Unfortunately, several schools report that these same ideas did not work for them, indicating the persistent nature of lost property and the difficulty of finding a definitive solution.

Schools report challenges with providing access to parents, reminders and requests to label items going unheeded, and issues with selling or donating items.

While a number of schools acknowledge that doing nothing isn’t a solution, almost a quarter of schools report that they haven’t been able to find a successful way to reduce lost property.

The most popular ideas are: improving accessibility and management of lost property (36%), promoting name labels (14%), regular reminders to parents (12%), selling or donating lost property (12%), labelling items in school (8%), supplying free name label samples (7%), and using PTA and pupil volunteers to help manage lost property (4%).

Schools have experienced issues with: poor lost property management and storage (22%), parents ignoring reminders to use name labels (25%), and selling or donating lost property items (5%).

9% of schools suggest doing nothing as least effective, while 24% haven’t had any successful ideas.

The responses suggest that improving accessibility to lost property areas is widely seen as an effective solution, particularly in schools with more severe problems (36% compared to 22-32% for mild and medium problems). However, schools with the most severe issues are also more likely to report that no action has successfully reduced the problem (30% compared to 17%), indicating that severe problems are more difficult to manage. Labelling initiatives are more common in schools with less severe problems (33% and 20% compared to 6%), while uniform recycling or donation schemes appear more often in schools with severe problems (18% compared to 8% and 13%).

Schools are struggling with the challenges of managing lost property. Many are increasingly reliant on PTA and parent volunteers to deal with lost property. Some schools say that they simply can’t keep up with the logistical issues of storing, sorting, and displaying lost property. Others point out that they are seeing increased lost property thanks to additional clubs and activities taking place in school.

The overwhelming majority of schools are frustrated with their lost property property. Much of this frustration is driven by the fact that lost property is an entirely avoidable problem with a very simple solution (labelling school uniform and kit).

Stick on name labels (like Stikins®) make it extremely easy to label school kit - but not enough parents are using them. Many schools point out that it is easy for them to return lost items that are labelled. The bulk of lost property is unlabelled items that cannot be reclaimed because they are not labelled. 

Learn more about Lost Property In UK Primary Schools.