Children's retailer Gymboree offers playproof uniforms for ages 2-12, including some adorable accessories, coats, and shoes. Expect to pay $10-$30 per piece in peak season, with deals to be had after the school year has begun.
H&M offers trendsetting clothes at rock-bottom prices - including some pieces that will work for school uniforms (even if they aren't billed that way). You have to watch the website like a hawk because sale items sell out fast.
You'll find the Chaps brand at Kohl's - a big box department store where the school uniform selection tends to be small. That being said, Kohl's has quite a loyal following and some shoppers love the "Kohl's cash" concept.
Known for having less expensive items than their sister-store GAP, Old Navy has school uniforms at some of the best prices in town. It's not uncommon to find polos for seven bucks; pants and dresses for ten to twenty.
Target has everything, right? Including school uniform pieces starting at $4 a pop! Target's own proprietary brands include All In Motion, Art Class, and Cat & Jack, but they also sell school uniforms by French Toast and Lands' End. You can shop online and get free store pickup to streamline your shopping experience.
The Children's Place bills itself as being "the place for uniforms and backpacks." You'll find shirts, skirts, shorts, pants, polos, and accessories galore. Bonus - toddler sizes are also available! Sign up for the free My Place Rewards program to earn points toward gift certificates.
On the back of these results, hundreds of comments from our families, and the difference in price between high street and supermarket school uniforms, we have chosen to highlight 3 retailers as category winners for 2022:
Supermarkets offer a range of prices for their uniforms, and while Sainsbury's ranked highest for supermarket prices, it also fared exceptionally well for all of our criteria, coming close to the more expensive high street uniforms.
In our survey of 709 parents of school-aged children, almost 20% estimated they spent over Â100 on school uniform when their child started a new school, with a further 50% estimating a spend between Â25 and Â75. Special items like sweatshirts and polo shirts printed or embroidered with school logos often push costs up, as do specific requirements for PE kit, shoes or outerwear.
The spiralling costs of school uniform is something the government is all too aware of. In November 2021 the Department For Education (DoE) released "new rules to drive down cost of school uniform for families". A 3,000+ word DoE document outlines in full what schools should be aiming to achieve when it comes to offering affordable school uniform. This information takes the form of Statutory Guidance, meaning schools must follow it unless they have a strong reason why they cannot.
We're pleased to say, for the first time, we're starting to hear stories of some schools creating badges/logos that can be attached by sewing or ironing (take a look at our roundup of the best irons).
The guidance also requires schools to publicise their uniform policies clearly, provide access to second hand uniforms and avoid single supplier contracts where possible, all while giving "the highest priority to cost and value for money (including the quality and durability of the garment)."
However, the government doesn't state specifically what "affordable" means. There is no maximum price limit for any items of uniform, for example. Therefore, it comes down to decisions by the school and its governors. Anecdotal evidence from parents we've spoken to this year suggests some schools are taking this guidance on board in a big way, but others are not.
A large number of our testers sang the praises of retailers that have considered children with special educational needs, sensory issues or conditions such as dyspraxia when developing their uniforms. M&S was the frontrunner in this area with its Easy Dressing range, and George at Asda was also praised for its Easy On Easy Wear range.
In some parts of the country, school uniform grants are available to qualifying families. You can find out more and search for your council on the 'Get help with school uniform costs' page on the Gov.uk website.
With cost more of an issue than ever, M&S is one of only 2 retailers in our list that have found a way to reduce the overall cost of school uniform compared to last year. We were able to find a uniform online for Â3.50 less than this time in 2021. The retailer also runs 20% off deals at certain points in the year, and members of the Sparks loyalty programme may be able to get vouchers to make savings too.
Parent tester Janet tested items from the Easy Dressing range with her 10-year-old daughter. "Once she got over the joy of tights with no seam, she tried on the polo and again squealed with delight to find the buttons were actually fake and it did up with velcro. That's a huge win in this house!" They had less luck with the cardigan due to the ridged cuffs, but overall Janet was positive, saying "I've never purchased Marks & Spencer uniform before. I have definitely looked and been put off by the price. However, having had the opportunity to test it and run it through some school days I am very impressed."
Parents were particularly complementary about the adjustable fit of school uniform from Sainsburys, and praised the girls' dresses as a real stand-out item. "The pleated pinafores wash very well with no need to iron which is always good," said one parent, while another loved the fact there's "always a wide range of different types of styles" including harder-to-find items such as culottes.
Although the price of uniform at George has gone up a little bit this year, it's still one of the most competitively-priced supermarket uniforms, with a single uniform coming in at around the Â10 mark. It pipped its rivals to the post in the "Worth the Money" category of our survey, meaning it scooped the win for Best Value School Uniform for 2022.
"Next has a great range of styles for school uniform. It is always soft & really comfortable. It washes SO well & rarely needs ironing," said one parent, who referred to the retailer as their "go-to place to buy school uniform". In general parents found Next offers good quality uniform, and indeed it came runner up to M&S in a number of the key judging criteria. But the quality does come at a price, with Next uniform costing almost twice as much as most supermarkets.
But the quality is worth it. "The majority of this uniform is much better quality than comparable uniforms found in supermarkets," said parent tester Nyasha, who tested the uniform with her 5-year-old daughter. "The items feel like they are built to last and I feel I will be able to hand them down when my daughter outgrows them," she continues.
One Next item that really impressed was socks, with a number of parents going out of their way to praise the brand for its soft, long-lasting offerings, which outperformed every other brand in our survey. "I have always shopped at Next for underwear and school socks for my son and tights and underwear for my daughter. The quality anywhere else has never matched," said one parent.
Parent tester Alysia, on the other hand, was a little more critical. She tested the uniform with her 4-year-old daughter and felt the uniform was good quality and washed well, but also said "I didn't think the uniform was necessarily any better quality than other cheaper uniforms I've purchased. It was definitely more pricey and I don't think that you got much better for the extra cost." She compared the polo shirts to ones she'd bought from supermarkets, and though the John Lewis ANYDAY ones were thicker, she wasn't convinced they performed better.
This year, F+F at Tesco was the lowest scoring of the "big three" supermarkets (Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys) but beat out Morrisons, Aldi and Lidl. One of the main complaints was the lack of convenience: F+F clothing is no longer sold online, even through click & collect, so you need to gamble that your local store will have the right sizes. Even then, it's really only during the summer that you can shop. "Availability in the Tescos local to me is limited unless it is during the 6 weeks of school summer holidays, which is a shame as I prefer their uniforms to other brands," said one parent we surveyed.
Emma, who tested the uniform for us with her 5-year-old son, admired the value of the uniform. "I was truthfully surprised at the price being so reasonable, especially the jumpers. I have been paying a lot more for uniforms in the past and as a solo parent I do feel the financial strain of buying uniform. I wouldn't normally buy at this price, or from Tesco, as I would have expected poorer quality, but I was pleasantly surprised."
Stacey, who tested the uniform with her 6-year-old son, said "The quality was ok, the material did seem thinner than some other supermarkets but better quality than the lower range. I think this will lead to the material wearing quickly after a year of weekly washes." Having tried a number of different uniforms for her son, Stacey described Morrisons as an average quality uniform but that it washed well, with no shrinkage or loss of colour.
Sitting in the middle of the pack when it comes to both price and overall score, the general consensus is that Matalan school uniform performs about as well as you'd expect for the money. There were some concerns around sizing, however.
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