Aibu? This sixth form shouldn't have a uniform.

[KindergartenKop]

I'm rewatching all of Waterloo Road on iPlayer. It astounds me that, despite lax rules about ties, skirts and hoodies, the sixth form still have to wear the same uniform to as the rest of the kids.

IWRBU (is Waterloo Road being unreasonable) in making these 16-18yos wear uniform? Do you know of any sixth forms which make the kids wear uniform? I don't mean top man smart suits and a tie, I mean proper school uniform.

I know of schools that do and some that don't. Support those who choose to do this, if nothing else it sets an example for younger children in the school.

My ds is going into sixth form this year.
He is staying at the same school and there is no uniform or dress code for sixth form, just the usual rules around no offensive logos, no cropped tops etc.
Both other local secondary schools have the same set up.
However we met up with a group of friends last week, many of whom go to school in the nearest city to us and all of them have to wear business dress. Ds was horrified and hates that idea!

Not personally but there’s only one sixth form where I live, the other schools don’t have one so everyone gets sent to college where it’s definitely your own clothes.

They wore their own clothes in my secondary school and I remember swooning after them when I was in year 10/11 with their cardigans, skinny jeans, vans and hair swept to one side .

The school I went to - comprehensive- had uniform through sixth form. I would have hated non-uniform. I had very few clothes and don’t know what I would have worn. It would feel so pressurised. The same jeans and jumper for two years?

@newnortherner111

I know of schools that do and some that don't. Support those who choose to do this, if nothing else it sets an example for younger children in the school.

What example does it set?

Sixth form should be a transition from childhood to adulthood and should be slightly different from the rest of the school.
More independent thinking and accountability for their own learning, not to mention individuality, ought to be the priority. What a uniform has to do with that I've no idea but I suspect lack of imagination and crowd control comes into it.

The younger children should be aspiring to the dizzy freedoms of no uniform in the sixth form!

Another in Scotland who wore uniform until the day I left aged 18years and 4 months. Different tie and prefect braid on my blazer.
Oh. And leaving meant handing in your text books and just heading out of the gate. No such thing as a prom then.

Also in Scotland. Everyone at my school wore the same uniform from 1st to 6th year. The only concession was when I was in 6th year, the school introduced a 6th year tie. Oooh, the excitement.

We had a uniform at my school. It was the same uniform we wore years 7-11 the only difference being in sixth form you wore a school branded jumper instead of a blazer. Still had to wear shirt tie skirt tights and black shoes

My daughters school does, Uk north west grammar. It’s slightly different than the main school.

State Sixth Form in England here has uniform. No blazer but logo’d polo shirt and jumper. Black trousers or skirt (although not regulated like the lower school).

That seems really sad. They were so worried about clothes that they preferred no choice in what they wore rather than just wearing something they liked?
I would have much preferred to keep a uniform in 6th form. Choosing clothes was a chore I would have happily gone without. I'm now 42 in a relatively senior management role in the public sector and if a uniform was introduced now I'd be quite happy about it still!

DT’s went to a non uniform school from ages 4-18. No big uniform costs and children not expected to wear impractical uniform. They wore jeans, shorts, T-shirt and hoodie with trainers.

I had a uniform for sixth form - very similar to lower school, including blazer (Scotland). I liked it. Took the pressure of what to wear away, especially as I didn't have the money for many clothes.

I'm now a teacher in England and have worked in two very different comprehensive schools - one with and one without uniform for sixth form. I never heard any complaints about wearing a uniform whilst at the first, but they had a choice of five different comprehensive schools for sixth form in the city - and they chose to attend the uniformed one (which was much more academic).

Clothes seem to cause a lot more problems for the sixth form in my current school (casual dress with a few rules - introducing business dress failed)...I find it all a bit tedious.

The school my daughter is about to start has a sixth form uniform which is bizarrely more formal than the rest of the school - blazers which no one else has. I actually went to the same school in the 90s and then there was no sixth form uniform then, just a dress code. Many schools seem to have become more formal since then.
Having said that, I've worked in other schools in the same lea and their sixth forms vary from none to a school logo t shirt and hoody to formal.
I wonder if it affects some pupil's decisions about college vs sixth form.

I grew up in Gloucester and finished sixth form in 1999. I cannot think of a single school (with a sixth form) that did not have a uniform for y12 and 13.

I used to think uniform was a good idea. Now I think it is outdated authoritarian rubbish.

That seems really sad. They were so worried about clothes that they preferred no choice in what they wore rather than just wearing something they liked? If genuinely true, it doesn't bode well for the rest of life. Surely choosing what to wear is just a bit of fun. You wonder how they will cope with much more important decisions and responsibilities as they move into adulthood
Lots of other life decisions aren't going to get you bullied by your peers for not being cool enough, not being trendy, not being different enough, being poor etc.

@Parker231 was that a private school by any chance?

[quote Porcupineintherough]@Parker231 was that a private school by any chance?[/quote]
Yes. London based international school

My brothers' school did, different colour blazer and tie from the earlier years.

We didn’t wear uniform at all in 6th year, school in general was very laid back no blazers etc - Scottish highlands

Boys school they have a junior and senior tie or colours tie for your sport then prefect blazer with trim in 6th year plain for everyone else.

I am really not keen on school uniforms anyway but I think it's quite sad that so many kids still have to wear it post-GCSE. Totally agree with @MadameMinimes, it's really nice to see kids experiment/find their tribe. As for making them wear 'business attire' I think it's totally unnecessary, if they end up working somewhere it's expected, they will soon figure it out. Plenty of jobs where it's not expected anyway. I think your teens should be an opportunity to experiment (but I am still experimenting at nearly 50!)

I'm much less bothered by the uniforms in 6th form than the A levels the students take! It seems the only choices are Maths Chemistry and English.......