Access to free period products in educational settings during the 2018-19 academic year: monitoring and evaluation report

4. Conclusions

Since August 2018, the Scottish Government has supported the voluntary provision of free period products in schools, colleges and universities. This report presents monitoring and evaluation data gathered on delivery during the 2018-19 academic year. The key findings are summarised below.

Key Findings

Delivery approaches

All local authorities, colleges and universities were providing voluntary access to free period products for pupils and students by the end of the 2018-19 academic year. Several institutions reported plans to further expand provision or undertake additional promotion or marketing activities.

Products were available in a wide range of settings. Toilets were the most common place both in schools and in colleges and universities. In addition, over half of colleges were providing products in vending machines and over half of universities at pick-up points on campus.

Many institutions used promotional and marketing activities to increase awareness of available products, tackle stigma and normalise menstruation.

All institutions had some provision to cover the holidays. For local authority delivery, this most commonly involved encouraging school pupils to 'stock up' in advance of the holidays and providing period products in community settings accessible to younger people. For college and university delivery, products were often accessible on campus during the holidays.

When asked about what they felt had worked well in delivery, institutions tended to focus on the involvement of pupils and students in shaping delivery approaches and product availability; the ease of access to products; providing dignified access; and, for local authorities, taking a flexible school-led approach.

When asked about what had worked less well in delivery, institutions identified limited choice in product availability, barriers to access, the lack of available data on uptake and challenges around the procurement of products for small schools.

Product types, range and costs

The majority of institutions were providing a range of product types, with sanitary towels being the most commonly provided product in schools and sanitary towels and tampons provided in similar proportions in colleges and universities.

A minority of local authorities, colleges and universities were providing reusable products – menstrual cups and reusable pads – with some reporting plans to provide reusable products in the future.

Pupils and students reporting taking a range of products, with the most common being sanitary towels (80%) and tampons (59%). A fifth of respondents reported accessing liners (16%).

A minority of pupils and students reported receiving reusable period products with 4% receiving menstrual cup(s) and 2% receiving reusable pad(s).

Over 8 in 10 of pupils and students reported that they were able to access their preferred product. Among the minority of respondents who reported that they were not able to access their preferred type of products, just over half reported that they would have preferred to access a reusable period product in some form, with menstrual cups being the most popular.

The median unit price was 11.3p for disposable period products purchased by local authorities and 11.9p for disposable period products purchased by colleges and universities. Reusable period products were significantly more expensive per unit, but the product usage requirement per person is considerably less than disposable products.

There was some variation across institutions in the unit prices of products purchased due to a range of factors, including supplier arrangements; brands; and the quality of products provided.

The most common suggestion for development of the initiative from the perspective of pupils and students was to increase the availability of reusable products.

Levels of demand

Uptake of products was challenging for institutions to measure and was seen as in conflict with tackling stigma around menstruation by some institutions. However, several local authorities, colleges and universities reported that uptake had been lower than anticipated.

Estimated uptake calculated based on the number of products purchased showed a median of 11% among schools, 4% among colleges and 10% among universities. However, there was considerable variation across local authorities, colleges and universities.

Almost 9 in 10 respondents (87%) stated that they had used or needed to use a period product in the past year. Of these, almost two thirds (65%) reported that they had taken or received free period products from their school, college or university in the past academic year. The proportion of pupils and students who reported accessing products was slightly higher among those attending universities and colleges (74%) compared with schools (54%).

Of the pupils and students who reported accessing period products from their school, college or university, just over 1 in 10 stated that they 'often' accessed free period products from their school, college or university and just over 4 in 10 reported accessing products 'sometimes'. Just under a half reported rarely accessing products.

A variety of factors were identified by institutions as influencing uptake, including the involvement of pupils and students in developing and delivering the scheme; the provision of products in a way that always for ease of access and minimises the need to ask for products; promotional and marketing activities to increase awareness of the availability of free products, tackle stigma and normalise menstruation.

Costs of providing access to free period products

The costs of providing access to free period products in educational settings was lower than Scottish Government funding allocations, indicating that institutions had sufficient funding to support delivery during the 2018-19 academic year.

Local authorities spent just over £700,000 purchasing period products for distribution in schools, representing 37% of the anticipated spend during the 2018-19 academic year.

Local authorities spent around £500,000 in development and administration, representing 64% of anticipated spend by the end of the 2018-19 academic year. Just over a third of this spend was on development, including the purchase of free vending machines and storage boxes.

Colleges and universities spent just over £1.0 million purchasing period products, comprising around £300,000 among colleges and £700,000 among universities. This reflects 22% and 37% of anticipated spend by the end of the 2018-19 in colleges and universities, respectively.

Colleges and universities spent just over £500,000 on development and administration, comprising £340,000 among colleges and £180,000 among universities.

Impacts

Among the pupils and students who reported accessing period products from their school, college or university, over 8 in 10 reported that the availability of free period products had a positive impact on them. Of these, almost 9 in 10 reported that they were less worried about having their period and over 6 in 10 reported that they were more able to continue with their day-to-day activities. A quarter stated that the availability of free period products had improved their mental health and wellbeing.

Just under a third of respondents who had not accessed a free product said that that the availability of free period products had positive impact even though they had not accessed a product, with the reason being given by over 90% of these being that they felt less worried about getting their period.