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.

£90 for a blazer? 🤯 I remember mine was £50 which my parents thought was extortionate - especially as we only wore them to assembly then stowed them in our desks!

Cost of secondary school uniform is extortionate!
Here, the summer dresses are £40 each, kilt £35, jumpers £30, blazer £45, logo skort, rugby top, house top, pe top, tracksuit trousers, fleece, socks - so pe kit is around £90!
Then there’s the multiple shoes / trainers, drama kit, dance stuff.
Kitting 1 child out came to £450!!

Our P.E kit had no logos, it was just certain colours - polo, gym knickers, netball skirt and sweatshirt.

That's crazy! 😲

£175 for her blazer and then she needed a lab coat, protective googles, DS tabard, three different sports kit ( Gym, tennis and field/hockey ) plus gum shield. Jumpers were £40 because they had the school crest on. The rest you could pretty much get from M&S.

She left last summer and is taking her "A" levels at the local college so I cleaned and packed everything up neatly and sent it to the school. Hopefully they can make use of some of it.

I did keep her Blazer though, for sentimental reasons, but I gave her the opportunity to go through the pockets before I had it cleaned. I heard her on the phone to her friend about it, " chill-out Bethany, I've got everything ". She looked up at me, " honestly mum, you really don't wanna know".

Was I like that at 16, I'll have to ask my mother.

I’ve forgotten the food and nutrition apron and logo food bag! The logo blouses (although now they say you can get any white blouse) at £20 for 2.
the whole thing is just ridiculous.

A logo food bag!!

At DD's school they can take in any apron and tupperware to bring food home in. They also have Science goggles at school they use.

The equipment they needed was:
Dictionary
French Dictionary
Spanish Dictionary
Bible
Protractor, Set square, pair of compasses, ruler, calculator
Sketch book, drawing pencils, paintbrushes
Pens, pencils, highlighters, whiteboard pens, glue, scissors, rubber, pencil sharpener
Colouring pencils/felt tips

So not too onerous but still cost a fair bit to get it all.

It's so expensive. Everything at my dds school needs to be logoed so can't buy cheap supermarket versions. The school jumper is £18... realistically you need 2/3.

£48 for a blazer. Had to buy a new one for Year 8 as dd2 had the temerity to grow 5 inches in Year 7.

On that, I can no longer buy "school" trousers for her because she's 5'9". Even the biggest size in M and S (17-18) was too short and drowned the child (she's slender). So I've had to buy from the womens' section. Which cost more.

No tie, but the shirts, while a common colour are not a common style so can only be found in two places.

Thankfully for PE they don't insist on logoed leggings or a jumper. Having said the PE leggings are pretty good quality. And they are allowed a plain v-neck jumper for uniform generally.

The school I work at, however, even insists on branded socks. Deprived area. Even the kids ask me to make it make sense.

When my eldest started secondary 15 years ago it cost me £540 to kit her out. Girls had to have pin striped shirts and pin striped skirts. All only available from 1 shop. Boys got away lightly as they had plain white shirts and grey trousers that could be bought from anywhere. Parents used to moan that the boys had to have a rugby shirt that was £40 and the girls didn't. They only had to buy 1 rugby top where as the girls needed a minimum of 3 shirts that were £25 each! The blazers were expensive at £55 each as well.

I just wish the country would get rid of uniform in its current form. Get them all to wear a black tracksuit with a coloured polo top or their own clothes. It's archaic to wear the uniform they wear, and it does nothing for behaviour, bullying, poorer children blah blah blah. All the other countries in Europe manage! Why can't the UK?

As I always say on these threads.. Scotland has none of this nonsense. Unless you opt to send your child to a fee-paying school, there is no requirement to buy fancy branded anything.

The school my kids are at has a black/white colour scheme. Kids wear black skirts/trousers and cardigans/jumpers and white shirts and it matters not one jot where you buy these items from, whether it be Primark, M&S or Chanel. They have a blazer which they want the kids to wear which costs around £40. Tie costs £5. Even if you wanted to, you couldn't buy branded/logo anything else as it simply does not exist. They do PE in shorts/joggers depending on the time of year and a t-shirt/hoodie. Only rule is no football colours, no alcohol branding, no offensive slogans.

Some English/Welsh schools are completely unhinged with their uniform nonsense and expense.

I begrudge uniform so much. Nobody I know has a job that requires a uniform at all except a police officer and obviously hers is essential.
One of my kids is leaving school this year: has gone through 3 crappy polyester blazers in 5 years that cost £50 a time. Uniform doesn't equate a better school either.
I am hoping my youngest goes to the "outstanding" secondary school with just a logo'd polo shirt rather than where my others went - a "good" school with blazer, tie, logo skirt, and seperate summer uniform (yes a different shirt and skirt). Even the sixth form has a uniform!

my dc are now at a school without uniform and it's bliss.
all the levelling argument is nonsense imo as it's very visible who has high quality, well fitting uniform item vs threadbare handmedowns or much too large at the beginning of the school year as the blazer has to last a few years due to the cost.

oh, and they stink a lot less as they don't sit sweating in a polyester blazer all day long.

We were always told uniform gets them ready for the world of work. But my kids go off to school every day trussed up in a suit and tie meanwhile their dad is sitting at his computer WFH wearing lounge wear! It's such an outdated concept.

DD is going to a state school secondary in Sept. Everything has to be bought with a special logo on it, white polo shirts with logo are close to £20 and we will need several for winter and summer, jumpers, special PE socks, PE shorts, branded PE leggings, special skirts and trousers etc etc etc. I estimate if I buy new it will cost approx £500+ for a year. Oh and it's all bloody polyester - gross. Insanity and I am a lone parent on a low income :(

As I always say on these threads.. Scotland has none of this nonsense. Unless you opt to send your child to a fee-paying school, there is no requirement to buy fancy branded anything.

This is not a Scotland/England thing - this is an individual school thing.

My DC's school uniform is any black trousers or black pleated skirt, any black blazer and any white shirt. And I'm in England. Then you do have to buy a logoed tie - which is £6.

DD only wore one skirt and one blazer through her entire 5 years at secondary school (yes, realise this is unlikely to be possible with boys) so her total uniform cost was much cheaper than primary where she shot up each year.

Mine starting secondary in September and we've been putting money aside for uniform as its looking at over £250 once you factor in new coat, bag etc as they have strict rules on colours/styles. Same as yours, primary PE kit is about £5 for a top or Bottoms, then any navy sweatshirt, secondary is a £15 sweatshirt, £10 polo, £15 Bottoms and £10 shorts, then trainers as well.

So my child is starting high school in September:

Note this list does not include fitted shirts, trousers, socks, underwear, coats, school bags, school shoes, trainers, football boots, stationary, lunch box

The below total cost is for 1 mandatory school logo item that cannot be bought elsewhere.

1x jumper £24.99 (I'll probably buy 2-3 of these),
1x tanktop £22.99
1x school tie £8.99
1x Blazer £34.99
1x PE polo shirt £18.50
1x PE shorts £17.99
1x PE socks £11.99
1 x Rugby shirt £25.99
1x PE Hoodie £31.99

Total £198.38

DD went to a school who's uniform could only be bought from one shop. Any diversion from the uniform policy resulted in detention. I spent about £350 on uniform as she went into Y7. We even had to have the school logoed bag! (£26).

This was a state school btw.

She's in sixth form now and she doesn't have a uniform. She buys a lot of stuff from DePop, Vinted and eBay now.

Wow, some of these prices are ridiculous! Are there second hand uniform sales at these schools? My 12 year old’s school has a uniform, but there are always inexpensive, unbranded options and everyone we know just donates used stuff to the school and buys the school branded stuff second hand from older kids who’ve outgrown it. There’s no stigma at all about doing this, reduces the amount of landfill and the school profits from 2nd hand uniform sales.

Dds secondary have just announced that from September the only mandatory uniform is the blazer and tie, everything else can be plain and from wherever, including PE kit which has been logoed only up to now. All year 7s are given a blazer and tie on entry so it really keeps the costs down, we are in a low income area though.

Younger dds primary has logoed jumpers and hoodies, one of each given last year and new hoodies given out this year, although they're not mandatory anyway.

We're obviously fortunate, although I think all state schools/academies should do everything they can to keep costs down

I am really shocked by the prices of secondary uniform.
blazer £55
skirt £26
ONE blouse £20
logo jumper £28
PE kits is £110 for 4 items!

and I have twins so this has to be doubled.

ds's school uniform was - non logo (school or branding) black trousers/skirt/jumper/shoes or trainers, white or black shirt and the only school specific item, a school tie.

Meant ds could have a fresh shirt every day - which is needed for teen boys (and probably girls too)!

PE kit was anything you wanted in any colour - shorts/joggers/leggings - no large logos. Blazers were only needed for 6th year, especially prefects, and even then no-one wore them and it wasn't enforced.

I support a school uniform, but it needs to be a reasonable one with mainly generic items.

Tbh what's wrong with just a standard pe polo shirt and stripy shorts? That was the basic pe uniform when I was at school there was no need for ridiculous logos