School's out ... of pocket for parents!

Startling statistics show true cost of sending your child to school.
Counting cost of school returnCounting cost of school return
Counting cost of school return

With summer holidays coming to a close, South Yorkshire parents can't help but notice back to class adverts across TV, shops and websites.

While families spend an average £70 on school uniforms, Provident asked 2,024 parents in the UK to list all outgoings involved.

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As the new academic year approaches, parents can expect to pay approximately £1,519 to send a child to school with Yorkshire and The Humber geographically cheapest in the country.

Main costs throughout the year include:

Ø Childcare: £220

Ø Uniform: £70

Ø Tech: £85

Ø After school clubs: £106

Ø Packed lunch: £585

Ø Commuting: £60

Ø School social events: £55

While the costs in general don’t seem much, there are quite a few to consider. A third of parents surveyed said they buy their child two replacement trousers, 10% said they buy three pairs of shoes, and just over 14% purchase over four shirts a year.

As parent can expect to fork out over £100 on school shoes, uniform and sports kit at the start of the academic year, the price increases as parents claim to spend over £50 throughout the year just on replacement uniforms.

When looking at the overall cost of sending a child to school (Year 1 – 11) costs vary around the UK. The average cost of sending one child to school for parents in the UK is £17,374, this increases to £21,298 for children in London.

Ø East Anglia - £15,312

Ø London - £21,298

Ø North West - £16,507

Ø Scotland – £15,714

Ø South West - £14,505

Ø Wales - £15,573

Ø West Midlands - £15,526

Ø Yorkshire and the Humber - £14,107

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Will this be the most expensive academic year for your child?

When doing a cross comparison of prices across different academic years, prices for school trips tend to hit three figures for children in years 8-11. It seems the most expensive academic years are 8 and 11, as yearly prices hit slightly over £1,700 per child.

One mum that knows the struggles all too well is Katie Humphrey, mum to 5“This amount surprises me and actually seems quite low. Once kids hit secondary school age the costs of specialised equipment, books, trips and sports kits etc. really sends the costs spiralling. When you have more than one child the costs can be unaffordable, especially when they often need more than one thing at a time. I cringe when they all come home with letters, wondering how much I need to spend that week!”

Zoe Grant from Suffolk thinks that there should be more support for parents “I think there is quite a lot of pressure on parents to ensure their children always have all the school equipment, join social school clubs and events and take part in extracurricular activities”

Find out how much your child will be costing this academic year with thecalculator tool.