Greens are cutting the cost of the school day
The Scottish Greens are urging councils across Scotland to adopt guidance on school uniforms and help families through the cost of living crisis.
Many schools have exclusive deals with specific suppliers, or different uniform policy for boys and girls, meaning costs are much higher for families to kit out their children for the school year.
The party co-produced guidance, intended for use by councils and schools, during their time in Government that would see a more flexible approach towards uniform including ensuring uniform policies are designed on the basis that all costs for clothing would be covered by the School Clothing Grant for those eligible for the payment.
The Greens also created guidance, that can be implemented at no cost to the council, that will allow generic items to be bought at lower cost rather than strict rules on school branding, and acceptance of religious clothing and items important to individual pupils' faith and beliefs.
Scottish Greens Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education, Laura Moodie MSP has written to all 32 local councils to seek clarity on whether they have adopted this guidance yet, and encouraged those who haven’t to do so.
Laura said:
“Too many families across Scotland are really feeling the effects of the rising cost of living. Councils and schools can help combat that by adopting our guidance and allowing pupils more flexibility when it comes to school uniforms.
“As a mum myself, I know the dread that can be felt when it comes to buying new uniforms for the year ahead. No parent should be worrying that they can’t afford a new branded blazer or polo shirt, or that by the time winter comes their child will have outgrown their new school jumper.
“The Scottish Greens did a lot of work to deliver these crucial changes that would be welcomed by parents across the country, which is why I have written to every council, urging them to adopt the guidance, particularly the ban on unnecessary branded items which can only be bought from a single supplier, often at ridiculous cost.
“The classic example is a blazer with specific braiding, which often costs more than the rest of a uniform combined, but is now mandatory in many high schools. This just leads to anxiety for pupils while punishing parents on more limited incomes.
“This guidance is another step that the Scottish Greens have made to support families through the cost of living, alongside our delivery of free bus travel for young people, scrapping peak rail fares, expanding free school meals to record levels and cancelling all school meal debt.”
Text of letter sent to all 32 local council Chief Executives
Dear Chief Executive,
School uniform guidance for schools and education authorities
In 2024, the Scottish Government published new guidance for schools and education
authorities on the implementation of school uniform and clothing policies.
Unfortunately, too many schools have unnecessary barriers to their school uniforms,
like exclusive deals with specific suppliers, and requiring boys and girls to wear
different uniforms which often result in higher costs for girls.
As well as capping costs, this new guidance gives individual pupils and their
parents/carers more control over what they wear, respecting their identity and
Beliefs.
Other points in the guidance include:
• Designing uniform and clothing policies on the basis that the School Clothing
Grant would cover the cost of all items needed for the school year, plus a
reasonable number of spares or replacements
• Allowing generic items which can be bought at low cost from a range of
retailers
• Flexibility to account for religious clothing, jewellery and other elements of a
student’s faith
• Promoting, and supporting access to pre-loved uniforms and clothing and
considering the overall environmental impact of uniform policies.
I am deeply aware that councils are currently under no obligation to follow the
guidance as it is non statutory. Adopting the guidance would be a simple and
effective tool for councils to address the cost-of-living crisis and help to relieve family
budgets with no additional expenditure on the part of councils.
So, I am writing to you today to seek clarity on whether your local authority has
adopted the guidance. If not, I would strongly encourage you to explore adopting the
guidance as soon as possible to make school uniforms accessible and affordable for
more pupils.
Yours sincerely,