Schools: Uniforms

(asked on 18th August 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children in (a) state and b) private schools in England are required to wear school uniforms.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 6th September 2021

The Department does not collect detailed information on individual school uniform policies. The 2015 cost of school uniform report, commissioned by the Department, found that 99% of parents involved in the survey reported that their child’s school required children to wear a school uniform. This survey did not include responses from parents whose child attended a private or independent school.

Throughout the passage of the Education (Guidance about Costs of School Uniforms) Act 2021, the Department has engaged with a range of different stakeholders who have all advocated the benefits of correctly implementing a school uniform. The Department strongly encourages schools to have a uniform as it can play a key role in promoting the ethos of a school, providing a sense of belonging and identity and setting an appropriate tone for education.

As the Act, and the required statutory guidance, is limited to the cost aspect of school uniform, it is ultimately for the governing body of a school (or the academy trust, in the case of academies) to decide how their uniform should be sourced. The guidance will make clear that schools should give high priority to cost considerations and value for money, which does not prevent them from taking into account other issues which are important to them, including sustainability and fair labour standards. Within the statutory guidance, the Department intends to outline the expectation that all schools should make second hand uniform available for all parents to acquire. Not only will this help parents to manage the cost of school uniform, but by extending the life cycle of garments, this will prove more sustainable.

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