The education secretary has asked schools to immediately limit the number of branded uniform items they require, even though a proposed statutory cap has not yet become law.
Labour’s schools bill will see branded items limited to three at primary schools and four at secondary, including a tie. It will apply to PE kit and clothes for after-school activities.
But the statutory cap is not due to come into effect until September 2026, as the bill is still making its way through Parliament.
Bridget Phillipson today said schools “can help ease the pressure on families right now by reducing the number of branded items they require”.
The Department for Education said schools should “immediately” limit branded items “ahead of the new term”.
Schools told to act ‘ahead of the term’
Under the terms of a wellbeing charter signed under the last government, the DfE is supposed to “publish GOV.UK content aimed at education staff only during working hours (unless, for specific guidance documents, there is a significant user need not to do so, or there is a legislative requirement)”.
A Schools Week investigation in 2023 found the DfE had published 31 updates online over holiday periods since it made the pledge in 2021.
Schools Week asked the DfE if the education secretary’s instruction meant they expected schools to draw up new uniform policies during the last two weeks of the school holidays.
The department said it was not calling for a change “right this minute”, but “ahead of the term so they can look at this when school begins and take immediate action to implement these changes going through the year”.
The government’s own guidance states schools should “engage with parents and pupils when designing their uniform policy or when making any significant changes”. It is not clear whether the DfE expects this engagement to take place before term begins.
Change ‘isn’t going to happen’ before September
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Changing school uniform policies requires communication and consultation with families before being implemented.
“That obviously isn’t going to happen before the start of the new term. The education secretary’s call seems more a restatement of government policy than anything else.”
Schools Week also asked how potential changes to uniform policies would affect families who have already bought uniform for the new term based on their school’s existing uniform policy.
The DfE said that “whilst many parents buy uniform before the school year that isn’t the only time it is purchased and there are many reasons for this including children growing and replacing lost items, so it is important that schools support parents throughout the year”.
Parents take on debt to buy uniform
The DfE has also published polling by Parentkind.
Forty-seven per cent of parents surveyed said they were worried about the cost of buying school uniform for the next school year.
Twenty-nine per cent said they would go without heating or eating to afford school uniform, while 45 per cent would rely on credit cards and 34 per cent on buy now, pay later schemes.
The poll also found 85 per cent agree schools could cut costs by reducing the number of branded items of uniform required. This was higher among poorer parents (93 per cent) and those of children with SEND (90 per cent).
The DfE said it was “asking schools to give families immediate freedom to shop where suits their budgets, ahead of a three-item limit being enforced from September 2026”.
Phillipson said: “School uniform matters, but it shouldn’t break the bank. No family should have to choose between putting food on the table and buying a new blazer.
“Parents have told us they want fewer costly branded items – and that’s exactly what we’re delivering. Schools can help ease the pressure on families right now by reducing the number of branded items they require.”
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