Research commissioned by the Department for Education (DfE) and undertaken between November 2023 and January 2024 paints an improving picture for families.
It finds that average total expenditure on school uniform was £249.58. This compares favourably to previous DfE research which found that average (inflation-adjusted) uniform costs in 2015 were £279.51.
Broken down by phase, primary uniforms in 2023 were less expensive for parents (£217.65 for boys and £246.80 for girls) while secondary uniforms cost £266.14 and £289.04 respectively.
Notably, the study, which involved more than 1,200 parents of children aged 4 to 16, finds that average expenditure on uniform reduces as the range of outlets from which parents can buy items increases.
The study states: “The average spent on items was significantly lower where all could be purchased from anywhere (£227.29) than where all had to be purchased from a designated shop or from a school (£283.90).
“Specifically, for some items, for example, shirts/blouses, jumpers/sweatshirts/cardigans, skirts/kilts and shorts, parents buying from a designated shop or from school had paid around twice that of parents able to buy from anywhere.”
However, while uniform costs have fallen by an average of £30, the research finds that the costs of PE kit have risen.
The average total expenditure in 2023 was £139.70 compared with £115.11 in 2015 (adjusted for inflation). Again, PE kit was less expensive in primary school than at secondary level.
When combined, it means that, according to this study, average total expenditure on school uniform and PE kit in 2023 was £381.92.
The average for secondary students was higher than in primary schools (£442.25 vs £343.28), and the average was about £24-£27 higher for girls than for boys.
However, while the DfE research shows improvement in costs for families overall, research carried out by the Children’s Society last year and involving 2,000 parents and carers found that on average secondary school uniforms are costing families £422 per-student, per-year, while the cost for primary school families is £287 a year.
The study found that uniform policies are demanding an average of three branded items, with 29% of the respondents saying they are expected to buy four or five.
However, it should be said that it is hard to compare school uniform research studies given the range of items that families have to buy and the difficulty of comparing like with like.
The DfE’s latest study comes after statutory guidance introduced in September 2022 ordered schools to keep branded uniform items “to a minimum”, limiting their use to “low-cost or long-lasting items” (DfE, 2021).
Second-hand uniform items must also be made available and high street items must be allowed, while schools should avoid single supplier contracts.
The DfE research finds that although the majority of parents/carers reported having to purchase at least some items from a designated shop or from the school, 65% reported that their school makes second-hand school uniforms available too.
The report adds: “This is a significantly higher proportion than reported in 2015 (32%). The option of buying second-hand items from school was much more likely in primary than secondary schools (75% compared with 51%), and in both settings it was more common than in 2015 (38% in primary and 24% in secondary).”
When it comes to branded items, primary schools in 2023 were asking for an average of 2.35 branded items, while secondary schools asked for 2.91.
However, this covers a wide range of approaches, with 25% of secondary schools and 19% of primary schools asking for four or more items, while 44% of primary schools and 11% of secondaries ask for one or none.
Brand new? The number of branded uniform items being requested by schools varies hugely from none to more than five (source: DfE, 2024)
Required uniform items most likely to be branded included blazers (95%), ties (84%), and jumpers (71%), with book bags (68%) perhaps surprisingly fourth on the list.
The DfE has said that its latest report will be used as a benchmark for future school uniform research to help monitor the annual cost for families.
- DfE: Research and analysis: Cost of school uniforms survey 2023, September 2024: www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-school-uniforms-survey-2023
- DfE: Statutory guidance: Cost of school uniforms, 2021: www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-school-uniforms/cost-of-school-uniforms