Twenty more areas plan to adopt York toilet-training scheme
Twenty local authorities in England have committed to adopting a toilet-training scheme piloted in York, where fewer children arrived at school needing help with it this September.
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The plan follows a pilot in York that offered parents toilet-training guides with their children’s first school offers, alongside workshops and training for early-years staff. From April 2026, parents were also offered information and support through GP surgeries, pharmacies, family hubs, schools and nurseries. [1]
Figures from York’s 55 mainstream primary schools show that 85 of 1,374 children starting reception in September 2026 were recorded as not fully toilet-trained, compared with 148 of 1,364 a year earlier. That is a fall from about 11% to 6%, or 43% fewer children by number. The comparison does not establish whether the pilot caused the decline. [1]
Jo Mould, a reception teacher at Robert Wilkinson Primary Academy in York, said her class had spent more time teaching in the first three weeks of term than in previous years. Her account describes her experience at one school, rather than a city-wide measure of teaching time. [1]
The authorities have committed to introducing similar schemes, but start dates have not been specified. York’s year-on-year figures offer an early point of comparison, not a measure of what the scheme alone achieved. [1]
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