Government acts to crack down on school uniform-rip offs
Tougher rules close loopholes used to overcharge parents, as Prime Minister's series of 'everyday fixes' make life fairer and give people room to breathe.
Families will no longer be at the mercy of rip-off uniform suppliers or schools dodging cost limits, as the government closes loopholes that have allowed some schools to sidestep limits on expensive branded items.
There will be no more hiding behind “optional” branded items with no cheap alternative, and no more pressuring parents into costly branded sports kit.
New rules – in force from this week – cap branded items at three for primary pupils and four for secondary. Schools will be told to work with suppliers that offer payment plans and run regular contract reviews, so families aren’t at the mercy of a single costly supplier.
It comes as nearly half of parents (47%) say uniform is their biggest back-to-school worry, as government ramps up cost of living support for families this month.
The changes sit within a broader support package launched this week:
- Free school meals are being extended to every child in a household receiving Universal Credit (3 million total), benefitting at least 500,000 more children and saving families £500 per child per year.
- Eligible parents of children aged 9 months to school age can access the full 30-hour government-funded childcare hours a week from the start of the Autumn term, saving up to £8,000 a year per child. This is alongside parents being able to access over 9000 childcare places from September 2026 through the school-based nursery programme.
- Over 1,400 more schools will launch free breakfast clubs, taking the total to more than 2,700 clubs open nationwide benefiting over 680,000 children, saving families £450 and 95 hours a year.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said:
The cost of sending your child to school has got out of hand, and parents are rightly fed up. School uniforms shouldn’t be charged at luxury prices when they’re everyday essentials. That’s not right.
I’ve listened to parents and alongside the cap on branded items that came in this week, I’m going further to change the rules. We’ll close loopholes and make sure schools shop around for suppliers and consider payment plans.
This is one of our everyday fixes to stop families paying over the odds, give them the breathing room they deserve and help to bring back hope across the country.
Education Secretary Lucy Powell said:
No family should be priced out by a school’s choice of uniform supplier or an insistence on branded items. We’ve been clear with schools - three items for primary, four for secondary, no exceptions and no excuses. If schools try to work around that, we will step in.
This is about real breathing space for families this school year, on top of the support we’re already delivering through free school meals, breakfast clubs and childcare.
Dan Paskins, Executive Director of UK Impact at Save the Children, said:
Parents have told us all summer about their worries about the cost of their children returning to school. Today’s announcement, alongside the new extension of free school meals and uniform grants, will remove some of that worry, and give families some breathing space to focus on supporting their children back to school.
Nearly half of all parents we polled said that school uniform costs were their primary financial concern around their children returning to school. The Prime Minister is right to go further to push schools to work with suppliers, recognising the pressure the cost of uniform has put parents under. Financial concerns should never impact a child’s education and these announcements will help ensure more children can focus on learning instead of being worried about food at school and having the right uniform.
Alongside the limits on branded items, guidance will be updated later this year on how schools buy uniform. Schools will be expected to seek out suppliers offering payment plans, and to review supplier arrangements at least every five years, so families aren’t left paying whatever one supplier chooses to charge.
The tightened guidance makes clear there are no excuses for schools dodging the limit - whether by listing an item as optional with no affordable alternative, or pressuring parents into costly branded sports kit.
The guidance follows research showing many parents are struggling with back to school costs. Nearly half (47%) rank uniform as their biggest financial worry, according to Save the Children, underlining why government says the cost of a school’s own choices should never fall unfairly on parents.
Processes are in place to ensure schools are following these rules correctly. If they fail to comply, the Education Secretary can take action to change a schools’ uniform policy where necessary.
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