7th November 2012 9:00
By Blue Tutors
The Office of Fair Trading has contacted thousands of schools asking them to change their school uniform policies. The move comes after research revealed that families are spending “tens of millions of pounds” more than they need to on uniform. This is happening because many schools force parents to buy clothes from specific shops, when they could get similar items for much less.
In the examples put forward by the OFT, parents were paying £12 for school sweatshirts which could be bought for £5 elsewhere. A total of 74% of state schools require parents to shop at specific retailers for uniform.
It has raised questions about regulations surrounding uniform. There is no government legislation surrounding school uniform, or related matters such as wearing jewellery and makeup at school. It is currently up to the school’s governing body to set these regulations, and critics have said that the expense to parents is unacceptable.