Parents spend £2.5 billion preparing kids for the new school term

Parents across the country face the costly task of preparing their kids for the new school year as new research by Santander Credit Cards reveals the eye-watering cost of going back to school. 

The total cost of kitting out the nation’s school kids with clothes, books, stationery and other necessities in preparation for the new school term is a staggering £2.5 billion, equivalent to £240 per child.

And the investment doesn’t stop there, as the cost of keeping under 18s across the UK in school once term begins totals £526 million per week. This works out at roughly £50 per school child per week and includes everyday costs such as packed lunches, bus fares, school trips and after-school activities.

Costs have increased since last year, when the average parent spent £224 in preparation for the new school year – a rise of seven per cent on 2013. Weekly costs are also up 14 per cent since last year, when keeping a child in school cost around £44 per week.

Excluding private education, parents with children at grammar schools spend the most, at an average of £265 in the run up to school term plus an additional £64 per week. This is followed by parents of children attending foundation or trust schools who spend £261 getting ready for term time and £56 on a weekly basis. Corresponding costs for community schools are £250 plus £51 per week and for academies, £232 plus £41 per week.

According to the figures, more than half (54 per cent) of parents with children of a school age drive them to or from school at least once a week, with the average number of journeys being three per week.

As a result, the average parent that drives spends an estimated £220 on fuel each year and clocks up an additional 1,285 miles. Collectively, this amounts to a national £1.5 billion fuel bill and a distance travelled of around 8.8 billion miles per year.

On a per child basis, school uniform (£39), school shoes (£29) and jackets and coats (£28) are the biggest outlays for parents in advance of school term time. And once the school term begins, the biggest regular outgoing (per child per week) is school trips (£10) followed by packed lunches, extra-curricular activities, and school meals all at £8.

Ruben Justel, Head of Santander Cards, commented: “The end of the summer holidays means the annual ‘back-to-school’ shopping trip for many parents.  Unfortunately kitting out children for the new school term is an expensive but unavoidable task.

“There are ways to make the ‘back-to-school’ shopping spree a little easier and spending on a cashback card is a great example of how parents can earn, while their children learn. The Santander 1|2|3 Credit Card could see parents rewarded for spending on the majority of back to school items, including the most costly such as packed lunches and school clothes and even fuel or train fares for the school run.”

Santander's 1|2|3 Cashback Credit Card pays 1% cashback at supermarkets, 2% cashback at department stores and 3% cashback at petrol stations, National Rail and Transport for London travel. It is available from Santander branches, online and by telephone.  For further information, visit santander.co.uk.