Families are still having to pay ‘exorbitant amounts’ on school uniforms, charity says

Families are still having to spending ‘exorbitant amounts’ on school uniforms despite changes introduced last year to keep costs down, a charity says.

Parents of secondary school children are paying on average £422 per year on uniform and £287 for primary school children, research by The Children’s Society shows.

The charity, which polled 2,000 parents from across the UK in May, said the high costs are partly because some schools require branded items.

The Education (Guidance about Costs of School Uniforms) Act came into force last autumn. It applies to England only. Under guidance published after the introduction of the Act, schools must ensure second-hand uniforms are available and keep branded items to a minimum.

Mark Russell, chief executive of The Children’s Society, said: ‘It’s alarming that parents are still forced to spend exorbitant amounts on school uniforms.

‘With inflation and the cost of living eating into family budgets, we are disappointed that the affordability of school uniforms remains a significant financial burden for many families.

‘As an organisation, we had campaigned for many years to make school uniform affordable and while some schools have made commendable changes to reduce costs, this positive trend is still not widespread enough.’

A Department for Education spokesman said it expects schools in England to be compliant with the uniforms guidance by September, adding: ‘We will continue to work with responsible bodies and schools to ensure guidance is followed.’