New guidelines issued to reduce cost of school uniforms in Scotland

Blazers and other branded items should not be made a compulsory part of school uniform, according to new Scottish government guidelines that call on teachers “to do all they can to limit clothing costs”.

While school uniform is not compulsory in Scotland, with decisions on styles made on a school-by-school basis, the guidelines, issued on Thursday, are aimed at reducing the cost of schooling for families, as well as making required clothing more inclusive and sustainable.

Schools are advised to opt for generic items and colours that can be bought from a range of suppliers, and to offer gender-neutral options as part of their uniform.

The guidance also urges schools to promote secondhand clothing, and discourages them from changing uniform styles between year groups, so that clothing can be passed down to younger siblings.

It also recommends that a pupil’s uniform and kit should not cost more than the amount available to parents through a school clothing grant, which offers £120 for a primary school pupil and £150 for a secondary school pupil.

A range of research has concluded that wearing uniform has little impact on pupils’ attainment, including that by the Education Endowment Foundation , which found “there is little robust evidence that introducing a school uniform will, by itself, improve academic performance, behaviour, or attendance”.

The recommendations, which were drafted in consultation with teachers, parents and pupils, were welcomed by Scotland’s largest teaching union, the Educational Institute of Scotland, though it said they would have been more helpful had they been published before the start of the school year, which begins in mid-August in Scotland.

The education secretary, Jenny Gilruth, said the guidance “makes clear that schools are expected to do all they can to limit school clothing costs for families as part of our wider aim to reduce the cost of the school day”.

She added: “The guidance also encourages schools to develop flexible and inclusive policies which promote generic items of clothing and do not include compulsory branded items, supporting our efforts to be more sustainable.”

Sandra Douglas, who founded the East Renfrewshire Back to SchoolBank in 2015 to provide uniforms to struggling families, said: “School uniform is a leveller, with everyone wearing exactly the same, and I’m all for it when it’s ordinary supermarket clothing. But the problems come when they have to have logos and mandatory gym kits.

“We’ve had calls to say kids won’t go to school or go very unhappy because they don’t have the right uniform, and if they are in school worrying about what they look like then they are not concentrating on learning.”

In England, Department for Education statutory guidance advises schools to keep branded items to “a minimum” and avoid single suppliers.

The new Labour government had a manifesto commitment to restrict schools to a maximum of three branded items of uniform and PE kit.