With September looming and some families scraping together to afford basic necessities, we have put together a list of help available for local parents to assist with the cost of school uniforms.
The Children’s Society charity claims parents spend on average £422 a year on secondary and £287 on primary uniforms, with branded items costing more.
These concerns are not new. Last year, the government amended the Education Act, adding a rule that required schools to help keep costs down by taking steps to remove unnecessary branded items and allowing more high-street options.
But given that prices have risen and even supermarkets are no longer the ‘cheaper’ option, here is a list of help available to get children what they need for starting back at school.
Council support
Like other local authorities, Southwark Council offers a School Uniform Grant.
This is for children aged 11 years old who are moving to secondary school when parents typically have to buy the most pieces of uniform and costs can be high.
Despite the website claiming it is £45, the council said they are topping it up to £100 like they did last year.
It is in the form of a voucher, which can only be redeemed in person (not online) from certain school uniform suppliers.
You can only get this grant if you receive one or more of the following benefits:
- Universal Credit with an annual net earned income of no more than £7,400 (Take-home pay must be less than £616.67 or 0.00 to qualify)
- Income Support
- Income-based Job Seeker’s Allowance
- Income-related Employment Support Allowance (ESA)
- Support under Part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- the guarantee element of Pension Credit
- Working Tax Credit run-on (paid for the four weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)
- Child Tax Credit (with no Working Tax Credit) with an annual income of no more than £16,190
Last year, when this grant increased to £100 per pupil (made possible by £5m Cost of Living Fund), the council claims it was received by more than 1000 families across the borough.
By September 2022, the rest of the Cost of Living Fund had been distributed in the form of flat rate payments worth between £120 and £270 to more than 30,000 of the lowest-income families reliant on benefits for some or all of their incomes and to provide Holiday Free School Meals for more than 14,000 eligible children attending Southwark schools.
The grant is still live for the September 2023 intake and it is still possible to apply. If in doubt about eligibility, any family who receives free school meals qualifies for a uniform grant.
Click here to apply.
Help online
Facebook groups offer the chance for families to buy, sell and swap their school uniforms and on many of them they are being offered for free.
Here is one that covers schools in the SE1, SE16 and SE17 postcodes.
There is also an app and website called Uniformerly – another source for parents to trade in and recycle any old uniforms.
Although there is help out there for those who meet the requirements, some families still continue to slip through the net.
Karen Garrett, a Walworth mother, whose youngest is fifteen and has autism said: “His uniform is costing me £125. He grows out of it every year and because he is autistic I have to get extra t-shirts for him as they are white and get dirty much more easily.”
She told us that whilst she waits for her funds to be reassessed she is unable to get any grant to help with the cost.
“I’m sure we used to get a grant of £90 for my other son – fifteen years ago. Now I’m getting no grant and yet the uniform is much dearer.”
Karen added that whilst the groups to buy and sell are good, they don’t accommodate every school.