Parents still spending "exorbitant amounts" on school uniforms
Changes introduced in England last year were designed to bring costs down
Parents on the Yorkshire Coast 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 ÂŁ422 per year on uniform, and around ÂŁ287 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.
Tom Clayton runs the Scarborough Uniform Recycle scheme, which has helped over a thousand children since its launch nearly two years ago.
He said: "It's not surprising. The law did change and as is inevitable with these things, it takes time to implement and embed. We are seeing changes starting to come through and I know there's certainly one, possibly more, secondary schools in Scarborough that are changing their uniforms so there are more items that are more affordable.
"The scheme has dual aims. It's partly financial to help people and families and there's also the environmental aspect of as well to stop these clothes from going into landfill, so it's kind of got two parts of it but helping people with uniform costs is a major, major part of it.
"We never thought for a moment that we'd get to the point of helping over a thousand children. It was quite astonishing but even when we do look back at where it started, the way it took off so quickly it was clear that this was a necessary thing. Numbers are continuing to grow and I think that's in part because people are hearing of us and there's more awareness of what we're able to offer.
"Demand for secondary uniform is very, very high, particularly for logoed uniform. The demand is high for some primary schools. There are some schools that do their own kind of second-hand uniform thing and that's great, so the demand tends to be for schools in particular where that second-hand provision isn't in place.
"It's not just families that are really low income affected, actually it's families across the board because if you've got two or three children, particularly at secondary school, then those costs multiply rapidly."
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.
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."