Schoolwear Association

The Schoolwear Association was formed in 2006 to promote the benefits of school-specific uniforms and to establish strong standards in the supply chain of garments to parents and schools. With an established and successful support system, the Schoolwear Association have over 250 members and suppliers, who supply 75% of all schools in the UK.

One of the Schoolwear Association members supplied us with a navy v-neck jumper to review.  The jumper is made from 100% courtelle acrylic fabric, which is used to produce high-quality, durable and machine-washable knitwear. With school uniforms being worn daily and washed often, you want a durable and good quality item that lasts, something that is easily cleaned, and the quality of this jumper fits all those needs. We were very pleased with this jumper, it is just perfect for the cold season that is quickly approaching us.

In addition to their member support network, the Schoolwear Association have also recognised a major issue, the huge expense for parents when buying uniforms, and with this, they have set up a national government petition with the aim of achieving a more affordable school uniform solution for parents '

Introduce a scheme to help families afford school uniform

School uniform is an important part of children's everyday school life. Hardworking parents deserve help to be able to afford the best school uniforms for their children.

The Government should make school uniforms more affordable by introducing a salary sacrifice scheme where parents exchange a small part of their monthly salary for school uniform vouchers. This will not only help parents to budget for back-to-school time, it will make uniforms more affordable because the salary given up will be tax-exempt.

The scheme would be available to all employers and employees who wish to opt in, with vouchers redeemable at participating retailers. Any retailer can join the scheme. It will be similar to the existing successful childcare voucher scheme.

With 3 boys, buying school uniforms for this new term was a very expensive necessity for us, with one son starting school, another moving from primary to secondary, and the third, well he had grown a lot through the summer holidays, we had to kit out all three of them with brand new school uniform. This was extremely expensive, costing us approx £300. So, I found myself asking! Why is uniform so damn expensive? and most importantly, Why on earth do we pay VAT on school uniforms - this to me is unreasonable, especially as school uniform is an essential demand put on us.  So why don't you join me and many others and sign this petition, as every signature counts