Parents find school costs difficult to meet

Three out of four parents and guardians find meeting their child’s school costs ‘very’ or ‘quite’ difficult, according to a new survey from national charity Citizens Advice.

Costs can be high and include many items during the year, such as uniform, books, school trips, photos. Nearly half of all respondents were asked to contribute to school funds, with some reporting they were pressured to make ‘voluntary’ contributions.

Nearly one in ten respondents indicated that the costs associated with schooling had actually affected their choice of school. The results come from an online survey conducted by national charity Citizens Advice of more than 1,000 people during June and July 2007 on its adviceguide.org.uk website.

Parents continue to say that uniform is still a big expense, despite Government guidelines calling for schools to make uniform more affordable.

The majority of respondents (59%) said they expect to have to pay more for uniform from September this year than they did last year.

One lone parent who completed the survey said her daughter’s secondary school uniform would cost her an entire week’s wage.

2 in 5 respondents said there was no financial help available to them, whilst 1 in 4 respondents were unaware of any help. Less than 7% said there were local authority grants available.

The cost of uniforms varies enormously, with some parents reporting spending as much as £500 per year. A third of primary school respondents spent more than £150 on school uniform and PE kit per year. Half of all secondary school respondents spent more than £200 per year.

David Harker, Chief Executive for Citizens Advice said, “Parents shouldn’t have to spend sleepness nights worrying about how they are going to pay for what their child needs simply to go to school. For many it doesn’t feel like a ‘free’ education, it is hitting their budgets very hard and potentially having a direct impact on children’s schooling. I am especially concerned about schools that put pressure on parents to make so-called ‘voluntary’ contributions.”

“The Government should take stronger action against schools to make uniform policies more realistic and affordable and should monitor schools to make sure they stick to the guidelines. It would also really help if all local authorities in England were required to provide uniform grants for families which receive the maximum child tax credit.“

“We want to help parents feel they can complain about school costs and how much notice schools give for expenses. Parent power can help put pressure on schools to make education affordable for everyone.”

School trips and other expenses

Nearly half of all respondents said they had been asked to contribute to school funds.

Nearly all had been asked to pay for photographs, with 6 out of 10 respondents being asked to contribute to equipment for lessons, such as cooking equipment and arts and crafts materials. The majority (63%) had been asked to contribute to fundraising activities and school parties and discos.

For day trips, more than half of respondents said they paid more than £10 for a day trip, with nearly half of those paying up to £15. 3% of respondents paid more than £50 on day trips. For residential trips, 1 in 5 respondents said they paid more than £200, with nearly 3% paying more than £500.

Nearly half (43%) of all respondents said they did not think that they were given sufficient notice to budget for day trips, with 1 in 5 (22%) saying they did not feel they were given sufficient notice for residential trips.

4 out of 5 respondents (78%) said that it was not clear that families on a low income could be exempt from some or all of the cost of the trips.

Citizens Advice is a member of the School Costs Coalition which includes Barnardo’s, Child Poverty Action Group, End Child Poverty, Family Welfare Association, One Parent Families, NUT and Save the Children.

The Horizons project for lone parents, supported by Barclaycard, funds grants for uniform and other costs through the charity The Family Welfare Association (FWA). The FWA gave out almost £200,000 in school uniform grants in the financial year 2006/07 which benefited more then 2,500 children.

Top Tips for parents on school costs:

Look at how to complain to your school and its governors about school uniform and other costs. Citizens Advice have produced resources which are can downloaded at: citizensadvice.org.uk/educationcostscampaign.htm

Ask the school if it offers any financial help towards uniform and see if they operate any ‘nearly new’ schemes for uniform. It may be useful to refer to the DCFS guidelines which can be found at: parentscentre.gov.uk/

Check which items must be bought from specific suppliers and which can be bought from other cheaper suppliers.

Contact your local authority to see if they offer uniform grants. This may vary between cash grants or vouchers

If your child is disabled and you are on income support or income-based job seekers’ allowance, you may be able to get a community care grant from the social fund.

Lone parents may be eligible for grants from FWA through Barclaycard’s Horizons funds. Go to fwa.org.uk for information

Contact your local CAB for advice on applying for school uniform grants or go to adviceguide.org.uk .