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Department for Education and Skills (DfES) research into costs of schooling in England

28-11-2004

1. Clothing costs, financial assistance and the consequences of not wearing the correct uniform
2. Transport costs
3. School trips
4. Conclusions and recommendations

Summary

• As a result of concerns raised about the financial burden faced by families in sending their children to school, by Citizens Advice and other organisations such as Child Poverty Action Group and Family Welfare Association, the Department for Education and Skills commissioned research to investigate the range and amount of these costs, what burden they place on families, and what happens if they are unable to pay and whether inability to pay affects social inclusion in schools.
• The research covers the full range of costs including uniform, meals, residential and day trips, transport, class materials, contributions to the school fund and photographs.
• The findings show that the average annual costs of sending a child to secondary school was £948.11 and £563.15 for primary school.  A comparison of these costs with the annual amount of child benefit received by families shows that even if families spend all their child benefit on their child’s school costs it would not be enough to meet the costs of sending a child to secondary school and the cost of sending a child to primary school would take up almost all of a pupil’s child benefit.
• The most bulky items of expenditure are uniforms and school trips.  Whilst low-income families in receipt of certain benefits might be able to apply for a social fund grant or loan to help with other expenditure of a similar size, there is little help to ensure parents on low incomes can meet these costs for their children.
• Almost a quarter (22%) of all families interviewed said that they found it difficult to meet the costs expected of them, worryingly this figure rose to 55% of families in the bottom two income brackets – those with incomes below £15,000.  The survey of young people also found that a small minority, particularly those from low-income families did not pass on all requests for financial contributions to their parents because they feared their parents couldn’t afford the costs.  

1.    Clothing costs

Average amounts spent on secondary uniform and P.E. kit in a year:

Despite these costs, only 27% of LEAs in England offer grants for children of primary school age, only approximately half offer these annually and the average value is only £25.87^.[1]

Only 49% of LEAs in England offer grants for children of secondary school age.  The average amount for year 7 (the year when most is available) is £51.27^[2], leaving over £235.70 of unmet costs in year 7 and much higher unmet costs for other years when even fewer authorities offer grants.^[3]

Assistance received:

• 4% of those interviewed received financial assistance with the costs.

• 9% of all single parents received some financial assistance to help with the costs in the last year.  1% of two parent families received assistance.

• Whilst assistance received was mostly from LEAs (73%), other help was received from families and from charities.

Consequences of not wearing uniform

Not wearing the right uniform could have serious implications for children in terms of their feeling of inclusion within the school:

• 2% of parents in the survey reported that their child had been sent home for not wearing the correct uniform;

• 33% of secondary school reported that pupils not wearing the right uniform might be withdrawn from the class;

• 43% of secondary schools reported that pupils might be sent home.

• The most likely consequences for secondary pupils without the correct P.E. kit, was that they would be given a verbal warning or loaned an item to wear.  However around half of all the secondary schools reported that the pupil would be given a detention and a warning letter sent home for failing to have the correct kit.

A recent CAB case shows the potential consequences experienced by one CAB client:

The daughter of a Bedfordshire bureau client had brought home a letter from her headteacher stating that she was not complying with the uniform requirements, and that if the situation was not rectified within a few days then her daughter would be ‘internally isolated’.  The school have complained that as the trousers her daughter is wearing are not from John Lewis they do not comply with the uniform policy – yet the client had bought trousers fitting the description in the school brochure for less than half the price of the ones specified.  The client is on a low income and found it difficult to pay for all the items her children needed for school.

The DfES encourage schools to7 choose simple uniform policies that include items available from high street shops, but many do not follow these guidelines.  Worryingly, in the average costs found in this research are higher than earlier smaller scale studies.  In addition of course, in many cases by definition, the costs of attending some schools will be much higher than the average.  This will be particularly true of schools that do not follow the DfES guidelines and include items only available in specific stores.  An average annual spend on P.E. for a secondary school pupil may be £109.76, but consider for example the Hertfordshire school that charges £90 for a jogging suit.

2.    Transport

One in five parents/carers said that their child used public transport or taxis to get to school and of these 64% paid for the costs themselves.  The average cost of this was £7.29 a week.

A Hertfordshire’s client had six children, her husband was disabled and they had no car.  Three of her children had transport to their school 1.7 miles away on the school bus provided by the LEA but she had suddenly received letters from the LEA informing her that there were now more children living more than 3 miles away attending the school and so the bus was full and they would have to walk or use public transport.  This would mean that they would have to get two buses and she was worried both about their safety and the cost.

3.     School trips

Whilst schools can charge board and lodging for school trips, children entitled to free school meals do not have to pay for these costs.  Schools cannot charge anyone for activities that take place mainly or wholly in school hours, however they can and do ask for voluntary contributions.  Parents on low incomes are likely to feel themselves under considerable pressure as a result, especially if told that the activity will not go ahead if the majority do not contribute. 

For example, a parent on a low income was told by the head teacher that a school trip might have to be cancelled if her children went for free, or else everyone else would have to pay for them.  Another CAB client living on income support was asked for £150 towards her son’s school trip to the Isle of Wight.  She managed to save £85 but was struggling to find the rest.  She was also worried that he would need a waterproof coat, a second pair of shoes and tracksuit bottoms. 

4.    Conclusions and recommendations

• Citizens Advice welcomes the extensive work carried out by the DfES on the costs of schooling.  The findings that over half of families on the lowest incomes find it difficult to meet the costs provide substantial weight to our concerns raised over many years.
• In the light of these findings we urge the Government to consider what action is appropriate to ensure that the costs of attending school do not disadvantage families on low incomes.  In particular we believe the Government should review it’s position on introducing a statutory duty on LEAs to provide uniform grants for low-income families.  We are pleased to see that the Welsh Assembly Government has committed funding to introduce a minimum financial assistance schemes in all Welsh LEAs to help with uniform costs from September 2005.  They have also recently introduced a grant scheme to help asylum seekers meet the ancillary costs of attending school, which include school uniforms.  These measures will mean that families on low income in Wales will receive more support than those on similar incomes in England.

• We would also like to see monitoring of English schools adherence to the DfES guidance on uniform policies. 
• We believe that the DfES should do more to promote good practice in schools in relation to policies around the ‘charging’ and should create opportunities for schools to learn from each other. 
• Policies in schools should be based on inclusion and not cause further disadvantage to those families already on low incomes.  Work for example undertaken by a consortium of organisations in Bedfordshire (which includes headteachers) has led to a number of schools considering good practice in this area and reviewing their policies based on affordability and value for money and ensuring access to all.

Respondant details:

Katie Lane, Social Policy Officer – Benefits and Tax Credits: katie.lane@citizensadvice.org.uk

James Hulme, Parliamentary Officer: james.hulme@citizensadvice.org.uk

^{[1] Help with school uniform costs: update 2004, Citizens Advice}

^{[2] This figure is the average grant at year 7 for LEAs in England and Wales}

^{[3] ibid}

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