West Dunbartonshire is one of only two local authorities in Scotland who are close to adequately helping struggling parents cover the cost of secondary school uniforms, a new study has found.

The national minimum school clothing grant is set at £120 for primary pupils and £150 for secondary students.

Figures previously published by The Children’s Society in 2020, however, suggest that UK families spend average of £337 per year on uniforms for each secondary school child.

New data gathered by Aberdeen University from 31 out of 32 Scottish council areas, however, reveals that only West and East Dunbartonshire are near to this figure, each providing a grant of £300 for secondary children.

While East Dunbartonshire pays £240 for primary aged children, the second highest grant in Scotland, West Dunbartonshire comes out on top, also providing a £300 grant for this age group. 

In fact, as parents increasingly struggle to balance their household budgets, the area is just one of five local authorities paying more than the £150 national minimum for secondary pupils in the 2022/23 school year, with ten paying more than £120 for primary pupils.

The data was analysed by Dr Rachel Shanks, a senior lecturer at the university’s school of education.

Based on her findings, Dr Shanks has laid out a series of recommendations which she will present at a roundtable at the Scottish Parliament on September 22 during the current national consultation into school uniform policy.

“The Education (Scotland) Act specifies that education authorities must ensure that no child attending a school under their management is unable to take advantage of the education provided because of the inadequacy or unsuitability of their clothing,” said Dr Shanks.

“Publicly funded secondary schools in Scotland expect households to provide many items of clothing which will cost more than the £150 of the national minimum clothing grant for secondary school pupils.

“With the current cost of living crisis and increasing financial pressures on families with children, the school clothing grant is an important mechanism to ensure children’s right to education.”

For local authorities, the recommendations include the automatic payment of school clothing grants in cases where other benefits, such as housing or council tax reduction, are claimed; and the rolling over of school clothing grants from one year to the next where there is no change of circumstance.

Dr Shanks also suggests councils consider giving a higher amount for the first year of secondary school when parents or guardians are likely to have more items to buy.

Schools meanwhile should develop costed uniform policies to ensure that any uniform requirements are both accessible and affordable within the limits of the local authority’s clothing grant.

“There are different solutions on how to alleviate the costs of school uniform to make them affordable,” added Dr Shanks.

“Many schools have already reduced uniform costs by taking steps such as removing the requirement for logos, reducing the number of mandated items, operating a blazer deposit scheme and ending exclusive supplier arrangements, as part of wider efforts to reduce the cost of the school day for families.

“There are further options however, such as encouraging schools to consider setting up mechanisms to donate or share second-hand clothing and working with one of the 30 dedicated school clothing banks that exist across Scotland or relevant social enterprises.

“Interestingly, while the new English statutory guidance requires schools to provide second-hand uniform to parents, my study of 2018-19 school handbooks found only two schools mentioned recycling school uniform in their uniform policies.”