Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to implement the recommendations of A better deal: boosting competition to bring down bills for families and firms, November 2015, Cm 9164, in relation to school uniforms.

It is for the governing body of a school (or an academy trust, in the case of academies) to decide rules relating to appearance including whether there should be a school uniform, what it will be and how it is sourced.

The Department has issued best practice guidance on school uniform, which emphasises the need for schools to give highest priority to cost considerations. The guidance sets out that no school uniform should be so expensive as to leave pupils or their families feeling unable to apply to, or attend, a school of their choice, due to the cost of the uniform. The Department’s guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-uniform.