A survey of families in the armed forces has found that 28 per cent moved at least seven times before their children started school.

The National Audit Office survey of more than 1,000 parents in the Army, Navy and RAF found that almost two-thirds (63 per cent) had encountered “major” difficulties in some aspect of arranging schooling for their children.

Moving partway through the school year meant that some children repeated the same topics several times but missed out on others completely, parents reported.

Most parents (85 per cent) said their children had attended state schools, but 67 per cent also mentioned independent schools and 40 per cent said their children had attended Ministry of Defence schools overseas.

Parents were concerned about the effect of moving school on children’s educational attainment and emotional well-being - 42 per cent of parents said moving had a negative impact on their children’s school performance.