To ask how much your new starter dc's state secondary uniform has cost this year?

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Including shoes, bags, stationary, PE kits, coat, lunch bag, water bottle, flask etc?

Dd2 starts year 7 next week. Dd1 goes into year 9 and needed some stationary, trainers, tights. I've had to tell her she has to use her old bag as I can't afford a new one just yet. Their dad contributes nothing outside of the bare minimum fraudulently calculated maintenance (but that's another thread). I'm on UC and I'll need to ask for an advance to pay the rent. I'm on a course to return to work so this time next year I'll hopefully be better off but that doesn't help me now. I do get some help for uniform but it covers very little. I am very grateful for it though. I've spent £250 but still need to get her a coat. I get her blazer paid for and £30 towards PE kit.

Our secondary has changed the PE kit so that is now not only school branded but also a well known sports brand branded. PE kit alone in trainers has cost over £100 and that's the bare minimum kit. Why do they need branded kit for school ffs?

I spent just over £200 on uniform. Shoes were £60 as my daughter has really wide feet so have to get start rite! They have an equipment list due to Covid so that was £30. Plus another £35 on other Dds new blazer as she has grown and £30 on her equipment.

I have yet to check my youngest feet but she will have to make do fit a bit with her uniform Unless I can get to the shop (in quarantine). That will be another £40 on logos stuff but I'll get the rest in Asda. Her shoes if needed will be another £15 probably.

About £400 on 3 kids 😱

My mum gave me £200 thankfully so not so bad but we're so skint due to Covid. My dd has bought her own bag an pencil case from money she had in her account!

€250 for eldest still in primary includes uniform, book rental, stationary, journals, bag.
Another €100 trainers that is my own hang up, DD is an easy target keeping her a bit cool is important.
DS in the equivalent to p1 €170 books, uniform, trainers, shoes, stationary.

DS started S1 a couple of weeks ago, we are in Scotland. Uniform: about £150 (blazer and PE kit and ties from "the uniform shop", shirts, trousers, jumpers, shoes etc from Sainsbury's and M&S ), bag, gym bag and water flask about £45, stationary about £10. DS kept his pencil case and lunch box from last year, plus some stationary, and he already had trainers to use for PE. He has't got a coat yet ( it is still warm enough here for him to wear only the blazer ) I imagine I will spend about £40 for a new coat for him in the next couple of weeks. I also paid £5 for the locker key. So about £250-260 altogether, and about another £50-60 I didn' t need to spend for stuff he already had.

I’ve spent the best part of £1000 kitting my 3 out for school.
DD is going into yr9 and needed new skirts and a blazer.
DS1 is starting yr7 so he needed everything, his PE kit was £100 not including trainers!
DS2 was the cheapest as he’s at primary school but it still cost me nearly £100.
I’ve spent £300 on shoes alone!

Blazer £30, tie £5, pe top £15, jumper £15 (optional) - and the rest you can buy from wherever as long as it's the right colour (black/white).

DD starts secondary school next week. Her uniform came in at £403 without shoes, trainers, bag. Dictionaries. Calculator and stationery!
All of her uniform inc pE kit has to have either the school logo on or embroidered initials!8

So actually £550 plus £22 for a school locker. They also ask for a yearly contribution of £100 and money for cooking ingredients
Also need to get her a school coat but hoping she won't need it for a couple of months.
Being a single parent I'd have struggled to buy all of that but was 'lucky enough' to have been made redundant in May so ended up with the money to
Pay for it all...

DD1 going into Y11, just needed new shoes, blouses and tights.
DD2 going into Yr7 needed EVERYTHING.
DS going into Yr4 also needs everything as he has had a huge growth spurt, we're approaching £900 between them now, its hideous.
Also have an ExH who fraudulently calculates CM and pays not a penny extra over the £50.66 weekly payment to split between three DCs

About £600 for one (secondary, but that includes adult shoes (bye bye child VAT relief!), logo wear, sports shoes and fitted gum shield) and £150 for the other (primary, with some hand me downs).

YANBU. My son is starting yr7. The PE kit has branded thermals, the leggings are £26. It's fucking outrageous.

It’s crazy expensive. I have 2 DC’s (not year 7) and just buying shoes from Clarke’s, a new jumper each (old ones fit but are a bit washed and shiny so bought next size up), new shirts and trousers I have spent about £250. Luckily PE kit fits as that’s the really pricey bit.
In year 7 the uniform for one DC came to £400, ex gave me half but I haven’t asked him this year, maybe I should!

Fuck me. Some of these costs are insane.

Dont any of these schools do second hand sales?

I agree the costs sound mad but I think it helps to remember a child would need decent shoes, coat & trainers each year anyway and surely would need some clothes to wear - school uniform does get worn 5 days a week so kids should only need 3 or 4 other outfits

No second hand uniform sales here...I think it's ridiculous. All these outgrown expensive blazers are obviously just being thrown away...such a waste

DS1 starting secondary, blazer £28, tie £7, PE top £8. Everything else could be bought in supermarkets etc so dependant has on budget could minimise costs. Shoes though are expensive as an adult size 7 so include VAT. I thought it was pretty reasonable.

Dsis has twins and blazers alone are over £100 each never mind the various PE kits per sport. Hideously expensive.

I haven't actually bought any uniform this year as it all still fits and wasn't worn out. But local uniform shop did two logo school jumpers and full PE kit for £60. Then I buy shirts and trousers from Sainsburys for a reasonable price.

Shoes are expensive, £50 or so from Clarkes.

So all in all maybe £150. Plus they have to have a plain black coat which we didn't have, ds chose a cheap puffer from Next for £25, so that's £175.

Would be even worse if we had to have blazers and logo everything.

I suppose they get a lot of use out of it.

Some of these numbers are horrifying! I have a nursery-age child so was totally naive about the cost of school uniform until I read this thread - for some reason I assumed that expensive school-branded uniforms were only a thing in the private sector. Clearly I was wrong and I need to get saving now

Not secondary yet but 3 x primary. Were due to start a new school 3 days after lockdown. 3 new uniforms bought. 2 had worn them for a transition morning. 6 months later nothing fits... 1 set never worn, 2 sets worn for 3 hours. Just marvellous. Also have DD1 then DTs - boys... can't pass anything down from any of them to the next so always need to buy 3 sets of everything.

Couple hundred, all in, which is probably as cheap as it gets.
Blazer, jumper, two ties, PE polo shirt, bag - all from school, £75 total - thank goodness they sell it themselves at cost!
Second hand blazer and jumper - 15.
3-pack of shirts and 4 pairs trousers from M&S - 50 (plus the shirts which were too small but I bought too long ago to return, another 15)
Track suit bottoms 18
Calculator 11
Shoes - ds will only wear crap shoes from Shoe Zone and until he stops growing that's fine by me - 2 pairs shoes and trainers for 25.
2 cloth face masks for the bus, fiver each
Coat from last year is still plenty big enough.
That's £200, still need pens and all.

He'd need most of that even without uniform - only the blazers and ties are really superfluous, but at 30 and 3 quid, not bad for the amount of wear they get.

Hopefully everyone has complained about the excessive uniform costs to the school, rather than just putting up with it! Why don't parents take a stand instead of just going along with this ridiculouness? If everyone sent their child in unlogoed stuff the schools wouldn't be able to enforce it

130 for PE alone but does bill itself as a sports/HRF school.

Maybe 50 for blazer and jumper then I've spent another 50 on shirts and trousers at m and s.

Ds doesn't need coat, bag or shoes so that's saved us a bit. Stationary - maybe 10?

So £240 overall but then I've found out that cause of covid they can come in pe kit rather than use changing rooms. That's five times a fortnight plus any clubs on other days. So I've just bitten the bullet and bought a second set of pe kit. £370.

At my sons secondary school an academy they provide a free uniform for all the those coming into year 7. They provide a blazer, 2 shirts, tie, trousers or a skirt and a pe kit too. All I had to buy was shoes, trainers for pe and a backpack.

They are expensive they're also well made and durable when bought from the uniform shop. I bought cheaper skirts trousers in the past they wear badly whereas the expensive ones go the distance and are usually passed on in good condition.

Ds's school snuck a labelled water bottle and a pencil case in to the list and they are no longer providing fruit at break for the infants so we need to provide that too and in a pot. Something else to remember in a morning! That was on top of socks needing to be labelled ffs. I've been sticking labels to all sorts today!

My dd2 starts high school tomorrow and is excited but a little nervous and anxious about all the Covid measures. She looks so smart in her uniform though and so grown up all of a sudden. My baby girl who needs a billion hugs a day and can't sleep without her muslin cloth is starting high school I might make them all pancakes if I can get myself up early enough. It's going to be soooo quiet!

At ds school the only logo things you have to buy are polo shirts, sweatshirt, PE shirt & Rugby shirt. There are optional things like tracksuit bottoms & a sportswear polo shirt. School charge £10 for a polo shirt, £18 for a sweatshirt, £8 for PE shirt & £22 for a rugby shirt. I went to a stall on our local market & got everything at least £2 per item cheaper, they copy the logo & do their own embroidery, when you are buying maybe 5 polo shirts, a couple of sweatshirts, 2 PE shirts & a rugby shirt it soon makes a big saving which can go towards everything else you need to buy like trousers, shoes etc. Thankfully ds starts sixth form on Thursday & they don't have to wear uniform, so it's only cost me for a couple of extra pairs of Jeans & some trainers. My niece's school insist on everything being bought from a specific shop (John Lewis) right down to socks, tights, coat, bag & pencil case, her uniform costs nearly £500, for a state school I really think that is asking too much of parents in the current economic climate.