Surely polling day school closures are outdated now?

[SchoolRunRealist]

I know this comes up every election cycle, but surely routine school closures for polling days feel outdated now?

Many schools already remain open safely during elections using separate entrances or isolated polling areas, while others still close completely.

It just feels odd that schools are under so much pressure around attendance and minimising disruption, yet predictable elections still routinely interrupt learning and create childcare issues for working parents.

This morning I finally ended up starting a Parliament petition asking councils to minimise school closures during elections by prioritising alternative venues where possible.

Not anti-voting whatsoever — just feels like there should be better planning by now.

Curious whether others agree or whether I’m missing something obvious?

Churches may not want to permit their hall to be used, or may want to charge. I don't think councils have any money to rent premises to run elections, hence why schools and parish halls are often used.

All schools that receive any funds either from local or national government are required to act as polling stations if so requested. They also cannot charge for this service. See s.22 of the Representation of the People Act 1983.

Closing schools to use them for polling stations was very common back in the 1970s. The secondary school I attended always closed on election days for the first 3 years I was there. I'm not sure why it stopped,I suspect that the very authoritarian head teacher might have had something to do with it. The assembly hall was used as the polling station but the rest of the school was still open as usual.