Essex school uniform bank helping families as much as possible as demand soars
Changes introduced in England last year were designed to bring costs down
Last updated 27th Jun 2023
Parents are still having to spend "exorbitant amounts" on school uniforms despite changes introduced last year aimed at keeping costs down, a charity has said.
Parents and carers of secondary school children are paying on average £422 per year on uniform, and around £287 for primary school children, according to research by The Children's Society.
The charity, which polled 2,000 parents from across the UK in May, said the high costs are partly due to the requirement from some schools for branded items which have to be bought from specialist shops rather than supermarkets or high-street chains.
In Essex, Laindon School Uniform Bank have been supporting their local families since 2019, but since the pandemic and as the cost of living continues to soar, their demand has been seen to increase dramatically.
Cassie Bloomfield, founder of Laindon School Uniform Bank, told Greatest Hits Radio Essex:
"Since I think, April of last year, we saw it go up tenfold. I keep a running total of what we we do and what we hand out to see when our busy periods are.
"Before the crisis hit, we were sort of averaging out in a two-hour session 300 items to 40 families and that started shooting up to 600 and 700's.
"Last summer when we were in the back to school madness we were in the thousands."
Cassie and those who work at the bank do encourage people to take more than they need also, to try and help with other elements of rising costs too.
"Don't just take two shirts, if we've got five shirts then take that because then you haven't got to wash them as often and your cutting down on your utility bills because you're only doing one wash in the week rather than two washes.
"If we've got the stock then take it. The knock on effect is that it's helping them not use as much at home."
The Laindon School Uniform Bank also provide other items when they're available, such as Christmas jumpers and fancy dress options, for families who may not otherwise be able to allow their children to participate in activities such as World Book Day.
"I felt that every child should be able to participate in something like that."
"The fancy dress is a bit of a guilty pleasure, I love to see a child walking away that would normally maybe get a no if it was in a shop somewhere and parents couldn't afford it."
Branded school uniform items bump up costs
Its survey found that on average pupils were expected to have three branded items, with 29% of secondary school pupils required to own up to five branded items including PE kits, and 13% expected to have as many as seven.
The Education (Guidance about Costs of School Uniforms) Act received the Government's backing and came into force in autumn last year. It applies to England only.
Under guidance published following the introduction of the Act, schools must make sure second-hand uniforms are available.
They are also advised to keep branded uniform items to a minimum and are encouraged to allow more high-street options.
Cassie feels there could be other options for using branding if people feel it is necessary, "I don't understand why they can't maybe have a patch that gets put on, or a badge that gets moved from one jumper to another.
"A lot of school actually will have something for pre-school, then infant school and junior school. It's so unnecessary, I mean there's definitely better ways to do this.
"I think it's putting a lot of strain on families."
Different school uniform rules in different places
In Northern Ireland, schools are expected to ensure their uniform is available in multiple places rather than from one supplier, and uniform grants are available to some pupils with the criteria similar to qualifying for free school meals.
In Scotland, school clothing grants are available to some pupils and can be applied for through the local council.
In Wales, families can apply for a school essentials grant through their local authority.
School uniform costs are "alarming"
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.
"We urge parents who struggle with the affordability of school uniforms to contact the school and the school governors."
"Rules aren't clear enough"
Labour MP Mike Amesbury, who sponsored the uniforms Bill that became law, said more must be done to ensure the guidance in England is being followed.
He said: "I was delighted when the law was passed in 2021 to make school uniform more affordable so families had more choice and fewer specialist items to buy.
"However, it appears that the rules on branded items aren't clear enough so can be interpreted differently by schools, or the message isn't getting through, so I would urge the Department for Education to do more so schools make these important changes."
Government response
A Department for Education Spokesperson said:
“To ensure uniform costs are reasonable for families we published statutory guidance in 2021, which schools must have regard for when developing and implementing their uniform policy.
“The guidance came into effect this academic year and we expect all schools to be compliant by September 2023. We will continue to work with responsible bodies and schools to ensure the guidance is followed and uniform policies are reasonable.”
Find out more about the government's strategy on cutting uniform costs here