Provided are a high-speed tool steel having excellent hot workability, and excellent damage resistance when made into various tools; a material for tools, and a method for producing the same. The high-speed tool steel contains, in mass %, 0.9-1.2% of C, 0.1-1.0% of Si, 1.0% or less of Mn, 3.0-5.0% of Cr, 2.1-3.5% of W, 9.0-10.0% of Mo, 0.9-1.2% of V, 5.0-10.0% of Co, 0.020% or less of N, and the remainder being Fe and impurities, wherein an M value calculated by a formula satisfies −1.5≤M value≤1.5. Formula: M value=−9.500+9.334[% C]−0.275[% Si]−0.566[% W]−0.404[% Mo]+3.980[% V]+0.166[% Co], where the characters in brackets [ ] indicate the contained amounts (mass %) of the respective elements. The present invention also pertains to: a material for tools, which is obtained by using the high-speed tool steel; and a method for producing the material for tools.