BBC NEWS | Programmes | Breakfast | Schools warned over cost of uniforms

Parents spend nearly ten thousand pounds to send their children to state schools from the ages of five to eleven.

A survey by the insurance company, Norwich Union, found that the cost of school uniforms, sports kits and school trips adds up to �900 for each child, every school year. And apparently the parents of girls face larger bills, because they have to spend more on books and after-school clubs.

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The national shopping list for parents just for the 2002/3 school year will include around:

35 million shirts or blouses

27 million trousers or skirts

18 million jumpers

18 million pairs of shoes

18 million schoolbooks

9 million coats

9 million bags and rucksacks

9 million sets of sports kit

Over a child's school lifetime - totalling eleven years - parents will have to pay for 22 school trips, 44 shirts or blouses, 33 pairs of trousers or skirts, 22 jumpers and 22 pairs of shoes. Parents of girls face a larger bill as they have more spent on books, trips and after-school clubs.

Costs go up when children enter secondary education with the annual spend rising by over �60 due to the increased cost of uniforms, sports kit and excursions.

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