to think suits are inappropriate for sixth formers?

[allsfairin]

I have had children go to several different sixth forms, some require suits and ties for boys / matching tailored skirt and jacket for girls. Some have a much more relaxed dress code.

My niece is now attending a sixth form which requires her to wear the matching tailored jacket and skirt, and she bought quite an expensive one, but the skirt is deemed too short and she needs to buy another. These items of clothing cost a lot especially for girls, and she has to wear the same one every day, as she can't really afford two.

My son attended this school more than 10 years ago, and I was happy enough for him to conform to the suit rules then, particularly as boys can quite often pick up suits in second hand shops, so nothing like the expense. It was, and is, a great school, he did very well, and has gone on to a great career.

However, he has never worn a suit since the day he left school, and nor have my other children. It did seem a bit old fashioned ten years ago, but these days, suits seem to me to quite often be a long way from acceptable business wear, and in fact to denote low status in the work place, whereas successful individuals generally wear smart/casual, or even casual/casual.

Looking at my own adult children and their friends, I know successful young people in music, science, finance, event management, energy, engineering - not one ever wears a suit, or even owns one, I know that by the frantic whats apps about 9pm on the evening before an interview recently when a friend of a friend suddenly wondered if he should be attending his interview in a suit and was messaging everyone he knew to see if he could borrow one, and the answer was no, no one possessed one

So IABU to think the insistence on suits in sixth form is outdated and obsolete, and these days denotes low, rather than high status? I think quite a lot of teachers still wear them, and maybe politicians, but these seem to be the only areas of life where they are still quite common

20 years ago, my school was one of the very few in the area who didn't do the suits thing.

It was the girls super selective school... and despite our lack of formal dressing we still managed to get onto the high flying University courses we wanted with our strings of A grades.

Obviously people know when enrolling in sixth form if there is a dress code, so cost or stating its outdated is irrelevant as you know what you are signing up to. Our sixth form has just put a uniform into place as sixth formers basically turned up in very inappropriate clothing.

I like suits, I think they are coming back but in a more casual form.

I guess it is their way of making sure that they are dressing how they deem appropriately, as otherwise they'd be in ripped jeans and crop tops?

Agree absolutely ridiculous. Some local schools both state and private do this - we have avoided them. Even in the 90s i wore my own clothes in the 6th form. Surely 6th form is analogous to being a student not an office worker in 2003.

Couldn't agree more - I'm a school governor and it always makes me laugh that at the regular board meetings, the only ones in "business wear" are the school staff - all the governors, who don't work in education, turn up in jeans, shorts, t shirts, you name it

Offices are smart/casual, or just casual, these days. Making young people dress for a time that has passed makes no sense at all, if you're claiming to be preparing them for the working world. By all means, have a few rules, but matching suits is far beyond what's needed

As a PP, I went to a super selective school too, and we wore what we wanted. The only time there was a fuss was when people turned up in boob tubes and hot pants on hot days.

A couple of the sixth forms attached to schools do this here, they stick with the ‘it prepares them for work’ narrative, which obviously isn’t true for many jobs. It seems pointless to me, but you know what you’re signing up for if you go so if you don’t like it, go somewhere else.

My son did his A levels at a sixth form college where you could wear what you wanted.

Like any other clothing, you can pick up suits cheap or you can pay a lot.

I agree it's a bit outdated in an age where even most offices don't wear smart suits anymore. However, wearing the same outfit all week is no different to secondary. My dc wear their blazer all week then it gets washed at the weekend. It's exactly the same when they go to sixth form, just a different colour.

Same at our 6th form. I think it’s ridiculous, and they all end up looking the same, just like school uniform really…however it’s an amazing school so we’re prepared to put up with it!

And yes, I agree this dress code is low status not high. I work in finance and can always tell the difference between the local sixth formers coming for work experience (girls in stretchy skirt, suit jacket, black tights, boys in cheap suits) vs those from private schools (jeans and a nice top or shirt, both boys and girls)

I went to a school which we had to wear suits from year 5 onwards. I quite liked it! We also had to have briefcases and year 1... Didn't like that so much. Looked ridiculous seeing 11 year olds walking around with briefcases. We also had to use Filofaxes as homework diaries, so we all looked like 80s yuppies!

I don't really think so, I have taught in sixth forms with suits, and sixth forms with a more relaxed dress code, and the amount of boundary pushing, arguing and consequences issued is the same in both

I think this type of dress code is the worst of both worlds. Mandating "business dress" for sixth form just means that parents end up spending (often lots of) money on clothes that their child still won't wear out of school. Plus in my observation it has the potential to cause friction between the parents, pupils and school regarding does and doesn't fit the bill.
If you're going to have a uniform, have a uniform - at least it's straightforward and doesn't have to be expensive. (My youngest is currently wearing a 6th form uniform jumper that both his siblings wore when they were there, and his short and trousers are from Asda.) Otherwise let the pupils wear whatever they want within reason. Schools can still have rules of course, you can ban ripped jeans without having to demand suits!

Expensive uniform is unacceptable. I think for sixth formers the dress code should be what is not permitted as a start point.

My sixth form was in a very poor area, all the sixth form boys ended up with badly fitting suits that were way too big for them. The teachers called them funeral suits because after sixth form that's the only reason they'd wear them again.

You see all the 6th formers around here in suits, it’s surprising and interesting to watch them, especially when they are out and sbout at lunch time. The scruffy ones who didn’t give a what they looked like in their uniform, suddenly become very image conscious in their suits.

They all look in charity shops where there are some very good suits for a few pounds.

The girls all seem to rock the punk look, or perhaps I notice that more, short black skirt, black thick stockings or long socks, t shirt underneath a grandad blazer, and they’ve worked out how to take the waist in, and a couple of the girls are wearing pork pie hats.

I personally think they all look very nice, the boys do seem to grow up, but as girls, it’s always being harder to find a happy medium between smart and casual.

I agree the world is changing, but I don’t know if department managers earning well in excess of £100,000 plus perks a year, at my place of work, would turn up in a pair of jeans and a t shirt for an interview.

Not ripped jeans?!?

This country blows my mind at times. It's like Hyacinth Bouquet lives inside half the nation's brains.

Ridiculous though I agree with certain rules eg no ripped jeans or strappy tops.

I work in a very corporate environment and the last 10 years and especially since covid we are all very casual

Our sixth form requires suits, or chinos, open necked shirt and blazer-style jacket for boys, and skirt/trousers, top and jacket for girls.

It is more practical and actually smarter because the clothes are washed regularly, whereas some suits that required dry cleaning were going from one term to the next without being cleaned and were positively grimy by the summer term.

It's also a more accurate reflection of working life.

My sixth form uniform was black and white business attire. So black suit trousers, white shirt and black jumper/blazer really.
I'd love to see their faces if they saw what I wear to work every day now. Usually jeans, baggy jumper, trainers etc.

It’s completely ridiculous. DD2 is currently favouring our local sixth form college rather than the super selective grammar for this reason. At 16, she’s ready to choose her own (perfectly appropriate) clothes, rather than being dressed like a bank clerk.

A ‘business suit’ is hardly going to prepare her for the world of work, unless she’s aiming for a career as BA cabin staff. Its simply not how people in high status jobs dress. She hopes to be a mechanical engineer, which is hardly a ‘suits’ job. I’m a psychiatrist and have never worn a suit to work. DH’s City law firm recently sent a ‘no cycling shorts in the office’ reminder, such is the ‘unsuity’ extreme of City professionals nowadays.

Utterly daft.

Each person who applies to a Sixth Form surely bothers to research the school rules. Your niece knew she needed a tailored skirt suit yet chose to make the decision to buy a short one which she hoped to get away with but if she had researched would have known she couldn't. She should try Vinted or eBay.

6th form/FE students haven't needed uniforms or suits since the 70s here. The colleges (which replaced school 6th forms) have a dress code of sorts but essentially as long as the clothes and hair style are not offensive or unsuitable for classes they are allowed. I can't imagine being treated like a young child while doing A levels.

also think it’s ridiculous and outdated and we’ve ruled out a local sixth form based on this. Luckily we have other excellent options where they actually treat the pupils like the young adults they are, rather than forcing outdated ideas of correct dress code onto them.

I don't think the "business attire" thing really flies these days. So many office jobs now have a "dress for your day" policy, where you can dress casually for most office based jobs, perhaps putting on a suit for certain meetings or external facing roles. Heck even our CEO (of a FTSE100 financial institution) had to be told to get changed out of his jeans and polo shirt because he was going to the Houses of Parliament or the Treasury or something. Perhaps going back 15 years, it was a reflection of working life as a professional but most of those kids, even those who go off to good unis and professional roles will never wear a suit in their working life!

I went to an own clothes sixth form. My dc goes to a “suit” sixth form.

I couldn’t give a stuff either way. It’s just a question of abiding by the rules of the place.

My ds has two identical, machine washable suits. It makes things really easy IME.