new school uniform's is a con

[james1900]

ever since schools have been sold and become private i.e academy
the local authorities who are running schools are over charging for school uniforms'

Average Cost of a Junior School Uniform 2019

The basic school uniform including a pair of school shoes and trainers costs around £160 per child on average—£180 with a blazer—if your school doesn't require school logos (giving you flexibility on where to shop). Prices range significantly depending on your choice of retailer and the age of your child, with parents paying anywhere from £70 to £250 or more to dress their child for school. Read below to learn more about average prices for school uniform by age and gender. Those needing to buy uniform emblazoned with the school logo will most certainly pay even more.

Average Cost of School Uniform Items

Excluding shoes, we found the average cost of a basic list of school clothing is £96 per child. Add in a pair of PE trainers and school shoes, and the average uniform cost jumps up to £162 per child. Since a basic, plain blazer averages £18, we estimate the total uniform cost including trainers, school shoes and a blazer would be £180.

As your child grows, so do the costs of a school uniform. Between age 4 and 11, expect costs of basic clothing to rise by over 40%, as you can see in the following chart. You'll also notice that the uniform for a girl will cost a bit more than for a boy. While many items are sold unisex (e.g., shirts), you'll find skirts tend to cost a few pounds more than boys' shorts. And if your daughter wears a pinafore, expect to add a few more pounds to the uniform cost estimate

I’d much rather they scrapped uniform all together, it makes no difference to their learning, mainly uncomfortable, hot and sweaty. I’d have it so they must be weather appropriate, and covered shoulders and to the knees, anything else would be fine
You and me both.

If it was about masking social differences, promoting work ethic and making an effort etc then there would be none of the blazer crap none of the 400 quid just to get through the door crap, sent home for wrong shade of grey crap, high street sensible uniform.would he acceptable.

But it isnt

Its snobbery, Its social cleansing of schools.its sexism, discrimination against disabilities, and ego trips for heads. That's all it is now.

Our school has just introduced a new skirt - just the skirt. It's £40 and hideous. One skirt for £40, in a state comprehensive in a deprived area. I know people who will struggle to afford this and yes, they are going to be draconian about skirt length too, so if you have a fast growing girl and don't earn much, you'll struggle.

I hate school uniform and I think it's unnecessary. All those people saying 'but normal clothes would cost you just as much and would wear out' are missing the point - our 6th form has no uniform and I have spent exactly £0 on clothes for her in the past 2 years because she is a canny charity shop raider with an eye for a bargain and her clothing allowance covers everything - 7 days a week.Nothing has been worn out because she buys quality stuff second hand. DD2 is doing the same going into 6th form.

Having said that, if you have to have a uniform, I really think there need to be hard regulations - not just guidelines - that prohibit schools from doing these pricy single supplier logo deals. With heavy fines if they break the rules. With school budgets being tight, hitting these academies in the wallet will be the only thing that works.

I hate the school uniform monopoly.

My dc are at independent school, uniforms cost a fortune (yes, my choice)

A few years back, the supplier changed, and the school now uses an online supplier. Prices have stayed the same, or in some cases increased, but the quality is now abysmal. Jumpers that used to have a high wool content are now polyester; the blazer again used to be a wool blazer, and is now a cheap blend but actually costs a lot more (£90 😱 - wasn’t so galling when you got a decent quality item - dd’s first blazer lasted her 4 years (slow grower 😀) and still looked new. Her next one (new supplier) was practically rags after a year and a half - no chance of handing down to ds).

I buy substitutes where I can - school shirts from M&S for a fraction of the cost - but most items can only be bought from the online supplier, and now due to quality issues (and don’t get me started on the random sizing either - just done ds’ order, and in some items he is in age 4-5, one 9-10 - he’s 7!) need to be re-bought each year, and can’t find much in the second hand shop that isn’t rags.

It’s ridiculous.

I like the fact that DS wears a uniform and looks smart however i disagree with logo's and labels. I have refused to buy anything with a logo or label for school, ds doesnt even wear designer stuff with logos so why would i buy one with the school logo on. I refuse to pay £10 per jumper and £7 per tshirt i would rather put this money towards a day out which would benefit his development and interests than waste money on clothes that wont last long (last term he wore a new top and came home covered in paint and ink and had to be thrown) ds is 5. I buy all his other clothes from primark and Asda, uniform is no different. He looks smart in asda uniform he goes to be educated its not a fashion show.

This is my sons last year at high school. Last time of having to buy uniform. And he didn’t need any!!!!!! I think he might finally be slowing down with the whole growing thing.

DS school (an academy) has changed its uniform in 2012 when it became an academy and is changing it again next month.
I was at a private boarding school in the 1980's and the uniform was the same in the 1970's. They finally changed it in 2016.

could have bought logo stuff and watch that cost jump to 100s, but I chose not too.
If your kids go to a school that enforces.logo, it's up to you to send them there or choose another school. If you choose that school, you choose their rules and accept that cost

Policies change all the time. My sons secondary has changed uniform policy 3 times since he started and now they have had a whole new uniform to buy.
He's going back into year 11, I can't very well disrupt him in GCSE year because I don't like the new uniform. There was no choice wrt uniform in secondary for us anyway. All the secondary schools in our catchment and in neighbouring ones enforce at least school tie and logo sweatshirt. Most have blazer and PE kit too.

On the programme "Secret Teacher" this week some of the children were wearing a pinafore in a secondary school. Not seen that before. It looked ok I must admit

Having no school uniform would not help AT ALL!! The same parents would be complaining that their poor little darling is being left out because they can’t afford the latest cool hoody or jeans etc etc!! I can see the MN topics now;
What are the school going to do about this clothing injustice??
Can I ask to school to insist on no branded clothes?
Dc wants the same top as friends but I can’t afford it!
Aibu in thinking that the teachers need to make a list of acceptable clothing for school?
Blah, blah, blah,

I’d love the uniform policy setter to come round and wash and iron x 3 uniforms

15 shirts
6 pleated skirts(school policy)
4 pairs of trouser
6 PE sets
Plus occasional blazer

See how quick they change the uniform then to non iron leggings and hoodies

I’ll be done, including new shoes, for under £100 for two. Thank fuck for sensible uniform policies in their schools (primary: red sweater, grey or black bottom, red or white shirt, black shoes/trainers. Senior: black bottoms, black jumper, white shirt, black shoes/trainers, optional tie and sew on badge available in the office for &3 a pop).

Hat off to those of you struggling with batshit policies. Even the one that was at a more strict school didn’t do ties/shirts/blazers - they just had a cheapish for uniform logo shirt and sweater at about £7 each.

@GinNotGym19 is that true that primary schools aren't allowed to insist on logo'd uniform? Ours does, jumper/cardigan T-shirt and PE top book bag and PE Kit bag MUST be official with logo on and letters get sent home if anyone dares wear a cheapo supermarket polo without the logo on

@notso. My sons school has been changing the school uniform slowly. A bit at a time. But. They have been only enforcing the new parts of the uniform on the new year 7’s. So the children already in the school don’t have to change unless they want to. This is a good idea. The new head also changed the policy of having to buy all the uniform from the same expensive place. So now instead of £20 a shirt ( I kid you not with the price of that ) we can buy anywhere as long as it is the same colour.

They don’t have a blazer. The only thing they say that he has to have is the jumper with the logo on. But so much better than before.

I personally don't think it's as bad as it used to be. I remember my parents taking me to buy a blazer. It was made of felt and there was only one shop that sold it. I don't think we ate for two weeks to afford it.

I took my DD shopping for uniform the other day and her blazer cost £12 - that's about 5 coffees! Skirts and shirts from Asda were cheap. I think compared to other countries and other times uniform is much cheaper now.

I like uniform as long as its standard supermarket, m&s stuff. I disagree with single supplier, special logo and tiny detail stuff. It stops economies of scale and raises costs. I fully expected to clothe my children. I was surprised to find that the 2 pairs of black trousers from m&s were not suitable and i had to buy an almost identical single pair for more money. It really annoyed me because my nieces private school uniform was a list of product codes from M&S, a local supermarket and a uniform supplier. It had fees of 14k a year and a cheaper uniform than the state school..

Our school has just introduced a new skirt - just the skirt. It's £40 and hideous. One skirt for £40, in a state comprehensive in a deprived area.

Ridiculous. How can they get away with that? DD;s school skirts were £6 from Asda. For £40 I got two skirts, enough shirts for one per day and a jumper too!

I don't like how some schools insist on changing uniform often. My old secondary luckily hasn't in 30 odd years- DMs kept a few of mine and DBros jumpers for sentimental reasons - I'll probably be able to put them on my DC!

Backtosxool don't be ridiculous. I grew up in a country where there is no uniform. It was fine. Nobody bugged the school. Bullying levels were not higher - in fact, bullying in the uk is among the highest around.

It will always be the case that children and teenagers want stuff they can't have. It's up to parents to teach them to accept the word No and it really isn't rocket science.

Get your PTA to set up a pre-loved uniform shop. My school has one, everyone uses it and it makes the school loads of money for other things. If I buy from this shop my whole uniform, including PE kit, would come under £50.

It's all very well saying that parents would be buying clothes anyway, if they weren't getting uniforms but there's no way I'd be buying 2 blazers at £28.50 each. Or acrylic tank tops.
I'm not buying the PE kit - DD can wear a polo shirt and shorts. I've learnt my lesson from buying all that crap for my son's who wore it once a week, if that and got it stolen despite it being labelled.

Sending our children to school does not mean blindly accepting every stupid rule . They are our children and we are entitled to disagree with policies which cost us lots of money and serve no useful purpose.
Uniform should be comfortable and practical and should act as the leveler is was intended to be. It shouldn't exist as a method of making money with purchasing linked to a child's right to be educated. It's legalised extortion.

We are lucky with our primary school uniform as the logo stuff is all optional apart from the tie so it's not any more expensive than non uniform clothes.

Secondary school uniform is a nightmare though. £33 for a blazer which I need 2 of because dc1 gets his filthy every day and I have to keep washing them. A small fortune on football boots that get worn for about 5 pe lessons a year. Doesn't help that dc1 is growing a mile a minute at the moment so everything needs replacing twice a year.

The costs are a joke. However I have been pretty savvy while my children are still young. I'm sure once they are older it won't be as easy. I make the most of uniform sales at end of term at school for logo'd jumpers and cardigans . They will get messy anyway so as long as presentable I get them and a bit of vanish and a good wash usually is all they need. School tie I bought on the elastic for my eldest and this is being passed down to my son. My eldest has a used tie but is inside a pinafore so fine. Pinafores I have scoured charity shops for M&S ones. Again, uniform sales. PE kit I refuse to pay out for the branded one for two 30 mins session a week so she has unbranded and means less likely to go missing. Only thing I bought new were school blouses and they were £4 each at Asda and will do two years. School dresses I have bought in charity shops when I've seen them and have stocked on larger sizes when I have found an excellent condition one. New are always socks from
Morrisons and shoes either next or M&S in sale around £20 plus school pumps for indoors all day.

Get your PTA to set up a pre-loved uniform shop. My school has one, everyone uses it and it makes the school loads of money for other things. If I buy from this shop my whole uniform, including PE kit, would come under £50

Unfortunately this only works if the uniform actually lasts or they haven't changed it.

It seems to be the expensive items like the blazers and the logos jumpers that look like a like of crap after a few months.

No one minds spending a fiver on a skirt from Tesco's . When a 30 quid blazer is out lasted by a 4 pound asda skirt you know theres a problem.

If uniform proved value for money I think.there would be less of a problem with it.

Dds skirt is 18.50. And you have to pay to have the stuff delivered as well as paying again to return if its faulty or doesnt fit. You then have to wait up to 10 days for the refund. Please tell me how between taking a.month to arrive in busy periods, waiting ten days for refunds, paying up to ten pound delivery to receive send back and the re order , that this is in any way a sensible way to have your uniform.supplied. as I said before dds pe top is still unavailable . She will.NOT haven't in time to start school..if she was a new starter shed be screwed. We are saved only because of her having the old one.

Pre loved sales work in.primary. but parents do not pick up at secondary. Kids sort themselves out and many parents have younger kids and are picking them.up at school so couldn't go even if they wanted to.

Something also needs to be done about uniform suppliers both online and high street and their stock.

You can do an entire shop on click n.collect from next or Asda no issue.

You can.pretty much walk into any Tesco or large sainsbury and get everything right down yo bags and stationary and water bottles etc.

Try and take advantage of the sales in m&s and where the hell is the stuff. Why such a poor range of sizes. Shelves are full but can u get 2 packs of 10-11 slim fit shirt sleeved shirts in blue..can you fuck.

Its pointless even trying.

And how when.they have boxes upon boxes of stuff to flog you at the one sale day at school 2 weeks before pay day when most.people are working or picking up.their other kid at school, can they suddenly have limited stock when.you order online. Least online gives you a heads up what's needed. How when 240 people per school every july order their uniform have you not figured out how much you need.

You take over then cant fulfil demand leaving parents and kids stressed broke and minus their uniform

*My dc are at independent school, uniforms cost a fortune (yes, my choice)

A few years back, the supplier changed, and the school now uses an online supplier. Prices have stayed the same, or in some cases increased, but the quality is now abysmal. Jumpers that used to have a high wool content are now polyester; the blazer again used to be a wool blazer, and is now a cheap blend but actually costs a lot more (£90 😱 - wasn’t so galling when you got a decent quality item - dd’s first blazer lasted her 4 years (slow grower 😀) and still looked new. Her next one (new supplier) was practically rags after a year and a half*

Let me guess, Schoolblazer?

My daughter's school changed their supplier to Schoolblazer a couple of years ago, and they're shocking. Sizes all over the place, materials cheap-looking (although not cheap in the slightest) and supply iffy at best. I waited weeks for PE base layers - not ideal when you're wanting your child to be able to play netball without freezing!

I'm blessed with a slow-growing child who is wearing the same skirt in Y6 as she was in Y3, but we're going through PE kit at a rate of knots as it's barely fit for purpose and either shrinks or stretches in the wash, looking tatty after a term.