Cost of school uniform

[Pinkpoodle44]

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

It was definitely a lot more expensive than I’d bargained for! Branded PE kit, branded sweaters, no blazers thank God! Shirts/trousers/skirts all ok from M&S or Tesco. Laptop. Subs for teams etc.

I think that £200 for that lot is not bad. Add in another £60 for shirts and trousers from M&S and given that you'd get 18 months out of that lot, 5 days a week (assuming they don't lose stuff), that's quite good. Throw in some second hand items and it's even cheaper.

You'll have to buy them clothes anyway, and I don't see many people spending less than £300 a year buying their kids clothes if they weren't wearing uniform.

Don't forget that you might not buy uniform in some EU countries, but you'll pay for books in Ireland and a whopping great stationary list in France to name just a few things.

@shockeditellyou

Exactly. And what is worse the kids have to carry those books every day to school..their bagpacks weight is terrible

@shockeditellyou the thing is - I would rather spend £300 on clothes that actually fit my child and she's comfortable in.
Unfortunately with school uniform - that often doesn't happen.

Our school polled parents on whether they wanted a standard school-branded bag or not and they were overwhelmingly in favour - it saves so much hassle not having to choose suitable bags individually, update them when kids change their mind about the style, or watch them fall apart because they're not sturdy enough for every-day use.

At first our school was like the op's with a book bag and a pe bag, but now there is the option of a larger bag that can hold both. Many parents seem to prefer this, but I prefer the smaller bag - that's because my son never gets round to re-packing it each day so always carries more than he needs - it is heavy enough as it is without sizing up.

If anyone is at a secondary school called St J....who is a boys school but admits girls for sixth form I have uniform. PM me your school and if it matches then you can have it.

@Needmorelego I only had one blazer. It was £45 in 1988 and my mum really struggled to buy it. Fortunately it only had to last 4 years because 5th years didn't have to wear one as it was the last year and not worth spending £45. DS is at the same school now and they still have the same policy on blazers. They are now £35 ish too. The quality is worse though, I still have my old one for comparison.

Private or state ?

Our uniform is blazer which to be fair acts like a hand bag.. plain black jumper, year tie, white shirt and black trousers or skirt. PE kit is just a school tshirt and then black shorts and socks.
Pe T-shirt optional if child not on sports teams. Otherwise white of black OK.
Branded goods total is £60

Second hand. The school will have loads of it and you often see it advertised on local Fb sites.
Good quality uniform lasts forever. I passed stuff down between my 4 kids and it still looked great.

do you need to buy/hire a laptop?
specialist pe shoes (ours need 3 pairs of specific trainers)?
school trip(s) planned?
money in advance for school lunches?
money for public transport?
money for clubs?

the first outlay is quite a shock!