As the schools go back this month, parents of growing children will have felt the impact in their purses.
Making sure pupils are kitted out in the right school uniforms can be a substantial layout if last year’s no longer fits.
We decided to find out exactly how much it costs parents this year – and which secondary schools cost the most.
Using figures available on each school’s website, we worked out the cost of trousers (or skirt if a specific one was required), shirt, jumper/sweatshirt, and where required, tie and blazer.
Here’s what we found – a significant difference through the city, with the most expensive outfit costing twice as much as the cheapest.
The cheapest school, Blatchington Mill, was thrilled with the results.
Deputy head Richard Chamberlain said: “We’re delighted that we’ve come out the cheapest – we’re always looking to make uniform cheaper to help parents during a difficult financial time.
“We always review it every year and where possible we’ll try and offer cheaper alternatives to things like PE kit.”
Varndean’s school business manager Andrew Stephenson, was not entirely surprised the school was most expensive, and said it took care in selecting items.
He said: “We ask for high quality, ethically sourced blazers – rather than being made somewhere like Indonesia, they are domestically sourced.
“The skirts are a half pleat skirt, which is very unusual so they have to be made for the school. That makes the Varndean uniform very attractive.
“There are only certain items which need to be bought from our suppliers. Other items can be bought anywhere.”
Where items were not required to be bought from specific suppliers, standard costs based on those charged by school supplier were used for comparison.
