Schools use CCTV in changing rooms

More than 200 schools, including some in Staffordshire and the Black Country, are using CCTV cameras to monitor pupils' behaviour in toilets or changing rooms, figures showed today.

Concerns were raised about pupils' privacy, as research by a watchdog revealed 825 cameras were located in the toilets or changing rooms.

A total of 207 schools across England, Scotland and Wales have the cameras.

Headteachers have defended the move, saying they were in place to clamp down on nuisance behaviour and not to intrude on privacy.

Research by Big Brother Watch showed that in the West Midlands The Friary School in Lichfield had 14 cameras, The Phoenix Collegiate in Sandwell had nine and Ridgewood High School, Dudley, had four.

Great Barr School confirmed it did have cameras but did not say how many.

King Edward VI High School, in West Way, Stafford, has security cameras mounted on the outside of buildings but none in changing rooms or toilets.

Almost one in 10 schools which use CCTV said cameras were positioned in places such as changing rooms and toilets, while 54 have more than one camera for every 15 students.

Nick Pickles, director of Big Brother Watch, said: "This research raises serious questions about the privacy of schoolchildren across Britain. The full extent of school surveillance is far higher than we had expected and will come as a shock to many parents.

"Schools need to come clean about why they are using these cameras and what is happening to the footage.

Responses from 2,107 secondary schools and academies showed they used 47,806 cameras, including 26,887 inside buildings.

With 1.8 million pupils being taught in these schools, there was an average of one camera for every 38 children.