Ballpark primary school uniform cost

[SlowDoris]

A young, single parent relative of mine will be sending their child to Reception in September. I'd like to give them some money to cover the cost of a school uniform, plus gym kit, plimsolls, book bag etc. It's been 20 years since I sent my first child to school but I remember there was quite a big outlay at the beginning for all the bits and pieces they needed. Can any one give me a rough idea of what it all come to? I imagine they'll look for basic uniform in Tesco or similar, but there will likely be a school jumper and other things that have to be bought at a particular shop. I don't really want to ask them for an estimate as I think it might make them feel awkward. Thank you in advance lovely parents of Mumsnet!

That is very kind and thoughtful of you.
It won't be that much at this age as tiny school basics are quite cheap.
Logo'd sweatshirt and bookbag if applicable would be lovely...

I'd say mine cost £100 to get them going in first year, this is including Clarkes shoes but not branded uniform.

I’ve just bought my son’s stuff for him starting in September and it was pretty pricey!
3 x logoed polos, 2 x logoed jumpers and book bag from the appointed shop came to £54!
I also spent £40 in Sainsbury’s on grey trousers and shorts, pe kit (t-shirts, shorts and joggers) and socks.
He needed a pe bag and an outdoor learning bag (£5 each), containing wellies and waterproofs (luckily picked these up second hand)
And finally new school shoes from Clark’s at an eye watering £44

I think I was around £150 for basic trousers/polos plus the branded jumpers, gym kit, jacket shoes and school bag.

Why not ask who the official uniform supplier is?
Trousers/skirts can be bought at most supermarkets or M&S but there’s generally a top and jumper with the school logo embroidered on
You could order directly from the supplier for these ...they generally have book bags and pe kit too

I'd say around £120 how lovely of you I would be very touched if that was me being in the same position - lovely thought

You can spend £££ or you can spend £ it's dependant on parent and the school.

My daughter's schools have never insisted on logos so supermarket stuff like a pack of 3 polos, £4.50, 2 pairs trousers £5, black shoes £15, Matalan cardigan £6, eBay black shorts £3, Amazon white pe t-shirt £2.50 for 2 etc etc. We even got some stuff from Pep&Co that lasted a year and cost a couple quid.

As a guide, for my son’s school:
Logo sweater £12.95
Logo polo £7.95
Logo Book bag £6.95
Logo PE bag £4.95
Logo PE top £7.95

2 pk trousers £7 (Tu)
PE shorts £4
Plimsolls £4
Shoes will be around £40, but supermarkets and M&S do a cheaper range which people seem to really like.

(We also need wellies, full waterproofs etc for forest school, but that’s a whole other thing).

I'd suggest getting a general idea of supermarket prices by going here:

direct.asda.com/george/school/girls/D10M2G1,default,sc.html

The Asda school shop tends to always be available for online ordering, tho it's only in th shops for a couple months befor sept

I agree with previous poster... Its the shoes that up it!
Our jumpers were £12 each, PE top £8,book bag £8, tie £2.50, pack of 2 trousers in m&s school uniform sale £8.75, shirts £7.50 for pack of 3.....
All in with socks, PE pumps etc I'd say £120-150.

Its a lovely thing to do to help them... 😍

I spent around £75, the only logoed things I got were book bag and 2 jumpers. The other bits, including cardigans came from generic shops

Honestly it depends on the school's uniform rules - and both my kids' schools have made changes to those for September (ties go bye-bye... I am so pleased with that!)

Supermarketwise - looking at about a fiver an unlogoed cardigan and pair of trousers or skirt... it's if it's compulsory logos the cost racks up (was £15 a cardigan when my kids were briefly at a school that was obsessed with logos) - and remortgage your soul when it comes to school shoes (although after years I've realised I got better bloody wear out of a pair of Asda ones than any Clarkes offerings!)

The Uniform allowance from DHs employer when we have to move is £75. I've generally found it covers everything but shoes. (But includes one logoed jumper/cardigan).

Your best bet is to check the uniform list of the school though. For example the current school needs logoed pe tops in the house colour (only £5, but more expensive that a pack of two white t-shirts from the supermarket).

I spent about £70 last year on reception uniform for September. Everything pretty basic from tesco, plus a couple of the 'official' jumpers. We then were given a couple more as hand me downs.
Plus Clarke's shoes which seemed expensive, probably somewhere about £35.

£100 would make a good dent in it.

Somewhere between £100 and £150 including shoes and trainers.

Mine is starting school nursery.

I have spent
4x logo jumper £40
4x plain polo shirt £14
4x jogging bottoms £24
1x school shoes £25
1x wellies £12
1x waterproof suit £15
1x rucksack £15

Wellies and waterproof have to stay at school so can't use the ones we already have.

So kind of you to do this for them :)

Our school has also asked for kids to have own pencil cases much younger than I’ve ever known before because of coronavirus. I managed to drop £40 in WH Smith’s just picking up that list the other day. (Buying multipacks so I have spares of glue, pencils, ink cartridges etc.) State primary school!

Thank you all - that's really helpful. That's given me a good estimate, and if there's any left over they can use it for the contributions that I know schools are always asking for It's good to hear that you think it will be appreciated too. Thanks.