Cost of school uniform

[mumwithtwokids]

Hi all,

Apologies if this has already been covered in great detail but my first DS is starting secondary school in September. We purchased the final bits of his uniform yesterday and can't believe how much everything has cost. We must have spent in the region of £500 - I'm still shocked

We just spent £510 on one of our kids. He's off to private secondary though and uniform could only be bought in-house. Two different sports kits (one for playing other schools and one for inter-house playing), a very specific type of trousers, a tracksuit, blazer and all the usual bits.

Around £400 here so far. That includes uniform incl PE kit, backpack and and equipment (pencil case, calculator, pens etc). SW London suburbs, comprehensive local school.

We still have to buy trainers and school shoes though...

My DD is going into yr9 at a state secondary. We have had to replace everything at the end of year 7 and 8 as she has grown out of them. The uniform is very specific and most has to be got from a specific shop. So far we have spent (from the school uniform shop):
Blazer: £33
Blouses x 4 £17 x 4 =£68
Skirts x 4 12.50 x 4 = £50
School jumper £17.50
Shorts x 2 £4.50 x 2 = £9
PE polo x 2 £9.50 x 2 = £19
PE jumper £15.50
Leotard £17.00
Total £229.

We have yet to get jogging bottoms and tights that are likely to come from M&S or Debenhams and are likely to be £20 or so. We also need to get new school shoes (?£50) and trainers (?£25).
We have also spent approximately £40 on stationary type supplies.

So that totals more than £360. If your school has a generic uniform and doesn’t require things such as knife cut pleat skirts, blouses with specific size and colour check, blazers, jumpers, PE jumpers and PE tops with the school logo but without the ability to buy the logo separately (I looked long and hard for these from an alternative source at the start of year 7) then you can get uniforms much more cheaply but for many parents that isn’t a possibility.

Ours was well over £400. State school but uniform only available from one shop and nothing generic that we can source from M & S etc.Blazer £55, skirt x2 at £30 each and shirts x4 at £16 each. Loggoed PE leggings, skort, polo and hoody, swim suit and DT apron all of which have to be printed with her initials. Shocking

Ours were over £500 for state school in year 7. Now ds is going into year 10, I think we just need shoes, trousers and shirts. Blazer he had in January, new rugby kit in May, bag he’s using the same as in years 8&9 (North Face- still looks new), PE was new in January. Oh I do have to buy stationary- every year he starts with a full pencil case, and every year by October he’s walking around with one pen in his blazer pocket. Drives me mad!