Why is Secondary school uniform so expensive?

[UndertheCedartree]

I've just gone to order my Y7 DD some P E shorts now the weather is warm and they're £16 each! Primary ones were £5.

It makes it so difficult to afford enough uniform. I feel like I'm constantly washing it!

My DD's school is much better than some in that they don't have blazers or ties. But we have a checked school blouse and a logo jumper that is really expensive. I get her trousers and skirts from Next as seems to be the only place that I can get hold of uniform beyond the summer holidays. Then the P.E hoodie is logoed and the P.E top has the school name on so both expensive.

There must be so many struggling with this. They did have a second hand sale the other day but they didn't have much. I did manage to get a second jumper. The P.E kit has changed recently so they had no P.E kit.

Ours is similar prices although shorts don’t need the logo. The most expensive item is the blazer which is £20. At least at this age they don’t grow out of clothes so quickly!

Blazer nearly 50 quid for me... crazy times we live in

Our foster son goes to tge same school our ds went to, many yrs ago. The logo'd blazer is heaper than the bhstores one my son had over 2 decades ago.
You need to have trousers/skirt with the logo, atie (4.50) but nothingelse.needs a logo. They do sell pe stuff with logos but it's not compulsory.. you can wear plain black.

Wow blazers here are £40 and everything needs the logo except shirts

Ours isn’t -at least not for boys.Girls have a kilt which has to be the specific school one. Our PE shorts and top are £8/10 each
Blazer £30, jumper £15, tie £6. Plain black trousers and white shirts, M&S or wherever.

If I was PM I would ban ridiculous expensive uniform items eg piped trousers, and force the price down on blazers and PE kit. There is no need for expensive uniform. Plain items are fine.

I added up the compulsory logo items DD2 will need next year. Less than £50 for blazer, tie and pe top. Unfortunately a bit more for a school skirt £30 and PE jumper, but they aren't compulsory (trousers are generic)

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-school-uniforms/cost-of-school-uniforms

I agree. Everything doesn't need to be logoed! Schools used to just have different colour jumpers.

I think the checked shirts are very nice but plain blue would mean a cheaper generic blouse could be bought. Why does the P E top need the name on? Even the hoodie and jumper could just be a plain colour. Does a logo really matter? The shorts are a particular design in 2 colours - why not just one plain colour?

Ours are £22 for a jumper, £25 for 2 blouses, £20 each for P.E hoodie/P.E top, £16 each for P.E leggings/P.E shorts.

Well, not much good if schools don't follow it. No schools round here do. My DD's school is probably the only school that is anywhere close!

Well complain

It's because the school gets commission from the sales.

tbh 16£ for shorts is a good price.

YANBU. DS secondary uniform cost a small fortune. The blazer was £85! No chance of cheap PE kit either, all has to have the school embroidered logo. The school do have a great second hand selection available to buy at the school office though. DS leaves this year for college so last year of uniforms for me thankfully.

I think in terms of cost per wear school uniform is actually a bargain. The trouble is it's a large outlay in one go. A pair of Nike shorts to wear in his free time would be £30 and not yet nearly as much wear.

The vile skirt / kilt at DD’s school is thirty five bloody quid.

M&S plain school skirt is a third of the price and 3 times nicer but not allowed 🤔

It often seems to be the PE kit which is extortionate, especially as they're only wearing it two hours a week. That could be massively reduced if they just asked for plain joggers/shorts/T-shirt.

Agree. The logo trackies here are £40! They also "need" the rugby shirt, shorts, t shirt and logo socks. Plus football boots, indoor trainers and outdoor trainers. They also recommend buying thermals for underneath for winter.

To put it into perspective... my dc attend the same secondary I did. The blazer was £90 when I went. The tie was £10. Now the blazer is £30 and tie is £4

It's not for me! 😂 3 times the price of the Primary ones!

£85?? faints

The thing is I can't afford branded clothes so I don't buy them (odd thing from Vinted.) But with school uniform you have no choice!

It's just ridiculous!

Tbf, my DD wears P.E kit all day on P.E days. But that would make it worse!!

But yes why not plain colour shorts and t-shirt?

It can seem expensive but I found things lasted really well. Both my kids only had 2 blazers throughout 5 years if secondary which for something they’re wearing so often works out very cheap. The PE kits do seem expensive for only wearing them a couple of hours a week but again I only ended up buying a couple of sets of it over 5 years. Football boots were probably the biggest waste of money for my kids.