Pros & Cons of Secondary School Uniform

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Two secondary schools near us - very similar in terms of performance, facilities, teaching, etc. The one obvious difference is that one has a school uniform and one doesn't.

DS will be going to one of these schools next year. Is whether or not they have a school uniform a factor to consider or not?
What are the pros & cons of school uniform at secondary school?
Thanks.

Is whether or not they have a school uniform a factor to consider or not?

I suppose that the fact they do or don't is going to say a lot about their ethos and therefore it's going to have to be a consideration.

My dd has a strict uniform. The kilt/knee socks/blazer kind and I'm happy with it. What she wears for school isn't a discussion or a distraction. It's just what she wears.

What she wears at home differs quite significantly. She does sports so sometimes it's that. Other times she's all emo. Could be black velvet and fish nets, could be pink frills.

Having a uniform means that she doesn't need to think about which image she needs to present to the world. She doesn't have to decide who she is yet.

My other dd isn't like that at all. She just wears what she wears which is why I've noticed so much with the younger one.

Cons- its hundreds of pounds to get through the door

Girls are ripped off with expensive skirts while boys get to wear supermarket trousers.

Girls have the option to wear trousers but good luck finding a pair that actually fit a developing girl that arent the skinny stretch style that end up being banned.

Shit for anyone with sensory issues its sweaty scratchy polyester all round.

The clothes cant be worn anywhere else so you basically have to buy double.

The rules around uniforms are often too strict. Would u want to wear a blazer in hot weather because even if you are allowed to remove it you still have to wait fir permission and the sweat patches make it too embarrassing by that point.

The shoes are expensive and unsuitable and impractical for walking to school in.

All other things being equal, I'd go non-uniform, particularly for sensory, DS1. Having to wear trousers, a collar and that bit on the clip of his tie touching his neck (dyspraxic so can't cope with tying an actual tie) all drains his energy and leaves less for dealing with life.
All uniforms are blazer and tie near us. The choice is the school badge/ tie only.

I've worked in non-uniform schools and loved it. When it's every day, it ceases to be a fashion parade and people just wear what's comfortable, particularly when it's hot/ cold. Comfortable people make happier learners. No time wasting over skirt lengths, tightness of trousers, definition of trainers, asking to take blazers off. No antagonising pupils because their shirt's not tucked in.

Fortunately for DS1, his school isn't as pedantic as some can be.

The reality is that higher educated, better paid peoples' work clothing has casualised in recent years.

My ability to wear a uniform blouse for one job wasn't impaired by 5 years of wearing casual clothes for 6th form/uni, nor assisted by wearing a tie/ blazer at secondary.

The advantage of DS1's uniform is that it's covered him as a suit for two funerals this year.

DDs school doesn’t have a uniform. There are rules such as no large logos, no crop tops etc. Atvthe moment the style is mostly flares and T-shirts, with a charity shop vibe.

Girls are ripped off with expensive skirts while boys get to wear supermarket trousers

I found it the other way round. My nephew went through trousers like nobody's business, growing taller and taller every minute it seemed while my dd had four skirts the whole way through secondary.

Also, all our trousers have to be bought through the shool uniform shop and they have the school crest on. Not that. Necessarily think that's a good thing but that's the way it is.

I didn't have uniform in 6th form and hated it. A few of us would have preferred to keep uniform throughout the school and missed it. When I was in year 9 there was a school wide vote and it was massively in favour of extending the uniform rules to make the blazer remain compulsory for everyone to the end of year 11. For some reason previously it was optional for girls in years 10 and 12.

I would have hated a non-uniform school.

Oh god, non uniform every time if you have the chance. Less expense, less to think about and plan for and one less point of conflict/difficulty. You can just buy clothes! Instead of having to buy clothes + buy extra clothes (often v expensive) for the sole purpose of your child being able to go to school.

If there's no other real difference between the two schools, go for the one that makes everyone's life easier and doesn't demand you spend money on £££ but shitty polyester clothes with badges on.

I'm from a country where you don't wear uniforms in state school and frankly I prefer it. In fact, the UK is in the minority - only the UK, Europe and Ireland have state school uniforms within Europe (common denominator is the British empire), nor are they in use in the US or Canada. I'd be fine with some sort of dress code to have some minimum standards, but the current uniform clothes are cheap and poor quality (to keep costs down, understandably) and just don't look comfortable. I feel like they are emblematic of what is wrong with the broader education system in the UK - encouraging bland conformity rather than individuality and self expression.

I appreciate the argument that without a uniform, there may be stark disparities in what richer vs poorer kids wear, but I think kids already can sense who sits where in the pecking order, and that is already expressed in who has new vs used uniform, clean vs not so clean, perfectly fit vs ill-fitting hand-me-downs. I don't think getting rid of the uniform would actually change much.

Also, all our trousers have to be bought through the shool uniform shop and they have the school crest on. Not that. Necessarily think that's a good thing but that's the way it is

The only pair of trousers I've ever found that fitted dd2 was the expensive uniform shop ones. We've tried every shop i can think of. She has to wear grey which only come in the whole 2-16 age ranges which never fit because. The senior girl trousers are all black and skinny fit ( which fit dd well but she can't wear them as they arent grey)

But yes that must be a nightmare.. kids grow so fast in their high school.years and schools don't care about the expense if keeping up with it. Unifirm if there is one should be 100 percent available from supermarkets. Even asda sell a plain blazer. Whats wrong with that I wonder get three fir the 40 quid u spend with a logo one

Check the uniform policy of the school that has it to see what the requirements are - look for logo items or where things have to be bought from one specific shop only (and are therefore ££).

If most of the uniform can be bought at supermarkets etc then it really comes down to personal choice but I agree with pp that having a uniform does reduce the angst of worrying what to wear each day.

I went to both and preferred having to wear a uniform, no outfit planning! When looking at secondaries with DC they also preferred uniform to no uniform schools.
DC school has a sensible secondary uniform, no daft blazer rules or no coat rules and they don't care about skirt length at all. It's the stupid petty rules and demand for logos on everything that causes the problems.

But at many schools, the uniform consists of very cheap supermarket clothes and if they don't have a uniform and you have a child interested in clothes/fashion then there will be an endless list of clothes and shoes/trainers/coats that they 'have' to have to wear to school, that cost far more than standard school uniform items.

Off topic but ds had similar issues with his tie so we put it onto elastic in stead of clip on which made it much comfier for him and easier for PE etc as he struggled with the clip

Check that it really is non-uniform, no expectation of something that is in all but name (loads of restrictions on what to wear for example).

Cost grounds would make me choose non-uniform if it really is that.

It does seem to be full on non-uniform - as in anything goes. Some of the things the girls wear to me are not appropriate for school (very short shorts, crop tops etc). This makes me want to lean more towards the uniform school...

BarbaraofSeville I think I agree with you.

My dd has just finished her GCSEs and whilst the first cohort of clothing cost me nearly £400 it lasted fairly well. The jumpers went a bit shiny after a while but we had only two blazers in five years which I think is good. We could only buy socks, coat and hair accessories on the high street, everything else was specialist. DD was happy enough to wear it because she didn't have to decide her outfit each day, though she hated the blazer. Everything is too small for her now!

In sixth form she can wear anything that comes under the "smart casual" theme. Her cousin went to a school where the 6th form expected business attire.

Having said that, one local school only insists on a branded sweatshirt and you can get everything else at M&S, and they do extremely well academically. I think uniform in conjunction with a sound behaviour policy works well in any school tbh.

Depends on what the uniform is and how strictly its enforced

if its affordable and comfortable and the school is reasonable -i.e. isn't one of those power mad ones that gives detention for an untucked shirt or non regulation socks or makes pupils wear blazers in the summer and only school branded, thin coats in the winter then probably uniform.

Wouldn't non-uniform give you / them more to think about and plan??
I can see it now - every morning deciding what to wear!

And uniform would be less conflict / difficulty as you know what you're going to wear, no arguments...

Thanks all.

There would be no sensory issues so I'm not concerned about that (can see why it would be a consideration for some).
I hadn't really thought of the financial side either but not overly concerned with that.

I think I'm leaning more towards the uniform school - it just feels more appropriate (for want of a better word). And easier.