School uniforms
The CMA has worked with governments across the UK to take action to reduce the cost of uniforms.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and its predecessor the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) have received complaints from parents and carers for many years about the price and quality of school uniforms. Over the last 15 years, we’ve been pro-active in encouraging schools, businesses and governments to address these very real concerns.
Families across the UK often question the cost of school uniform and restrictions which limit their choice of what and where they can buy. Some families are forced to buy what they consider to be unnecessarily branded items of school uniform, often from suppliers and retailers who have exclusivity agreements with particular schools.
As a result, parents and carers tell us they are prevented from buying cheaper and sometimes better quality school uniforms from alternative outlets, including department stores, supermarkets, and rival local school outfitters.
Action the CMA and our predecessors has taken include:
- in 2006, an OFT review into the supply of school uniforms, looking at the impact of exclusive contracts on competition which could lead to higher prices for parents and carers. That study found that outlets with exclusivity arrangements were on average 23% more expensive than general retailers for compulsory items. The average price difference for items of primary school uniform was 37% and for secondary schools was 18%. Outlets with exclusivity arrangements were found to be 150% more expensive than supermarkets, on average
- in 2012 the OFT wrote directly to headteachers, school governing bodies and school uniform suppliers about their obligations under competition law. We urged headteachers to review their school’s uniform policies to end any arrangements with a single retailer or supplier or to introduce competition into the process of choosing that retailer or supplier. The letter also encouraged them to carry out competitive tendering on a regular basis where they do enter into contracts
- in 2015 we wrote to 30,000 headteachers, school governing boards as well as school uniform suppliers in England to remind them about their obligations to parents and carers under competition law
- in 2019, we wrote to the then UK Education Secretary to remind him of the UK government’s commitment to introduce statutory guidance in England, reiterating that this was the most direct way of delivering change
- in 2022 we responded to the Scottish Government’s consultation on the introduction of statutory guidance for school uniforms and offered our support as they develop this guidance
Blog: The cost of school uniforms: new guidance from the Department for Education