School uniform in itself is not a bad thing, but it can be expensive

Katie Lane, report author

The organisation wants the government to introduce a statutory obligation for local education authorities (LEAs) in England and Wales to provide grants for uniforms.

The NACAB study, called Uniform Failure, criticises authorities for offering less financial support for low-income families than they did a decade ago.

And, where help does exist, it is seldom advertised, the researchers claim.

"School uniform in itself is not a bad thing. But it can be expensive and that's what we're concerned about," author of the report, Katie Lane, said.

"LEAs don't have to provide grants and so that is the thing that tends to fall off the end - 29% provide nothing."

Schools' responsibility

Schools should also be more aware when dealing with children who were not wearing the full uniform, she said.

"Schools should look at the causes of the problem and be more sensitive towards the financial issue."

Main findings

29% of LEAs do not provide grants Average grant for secondary uniforms is �49 Uniforms cost between �104 and �274 Financial assistance has declined in the past 10 years Provision varies greatly from area to area

Chief executive of NACAB David Harker said many children felt excluded from the social and academic life of school.

"Not having the proper uniform can mark out a child as being poor or even as being a troublemaker - failing to meet the most basic of school discipline policies," he said.

All LEAs should be required to provide a minimum standard of assistance, he urged, with proper funding made available to them, as with free school meals.

"The alternative is to countenance social exclusion that starts in the playground," he said.

More cash

The Local Government Association said it was up to the government to give councils more funding to cover school uniform allowances.

"With councils told to pass more than 80% of their education budget to schools, authorities find their central budgets - which would fund such grants - have been squeezed," education chairman, Graham Lane, said.

School uniform is often a subject for comedy

John Dunford, general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association, said many schools saw uniforms as a way of fostering a sense of belonging and of hiding the means of a pupil's family.

"Schools do not exclude pupils because they cannot afford a school uniform and most schools have a second-hand uniform stock to help pupils in difficult circumstances," he said.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Education said there were no plans to issue general guidance, because uniform regulations were a matter for school governors.