Law over school uniform costs will 'not deliver for parents'

The law gives the education minister the power to cap school uniform costs, with the hope of making them more affordable

A bill aimed at addressing the costs of school uniforms is "light touch" and will not deliver for parents, the Alliance Party has said.

The party's chair of the education committee, Nick Mathison, was speaking ahead of a debate on the legislation at Stormont on Monday.

The law will compel schools to explain to parents the reasons for uniform prices and provide the minister with an "enabling power" to cap costs, but it will not include a specific price cap.

Despite criticism from a number of assembly members, it is expected the new law will be in place for the start of the 2026/27 school year.

Mathison said it was not clear what the guidelines to schools would contain and that it was "disappointing" the legislation was not more detailed.

He said the assembly speaker Edwin Poots had also rejected proposed amendments for debate that would ensure all schools allow girls to wear trousers.

"There is nothing around that, nothing about the sensory issues experienced by children with special educational needs, there are a whole range of things that are now not going to be included," he said.

Mathison tabled an amendment that would require the minister - currently the Democratic Unionist Party's (DUP) Paul Givan - to return to the assembly on a three-year cycle to update assembly members (MLAs) about how the new law is having an impact.

"There's no doubt if a cap was to be introduced we would be leading the way globally, my concern is that by just making it an enabling power it will sit and gather dust," added Mathison.

'Disconnected to the reality'

When the debate got under way, the SDLP's Daniel McCrossan said MLAs were hearing from constituents about the high price of uniforms "day and daily".

He said families were paying more than £100 for a single blazer "often more when the school insists on specific suppliers".

Sinn Féin's Pat Sheehan called the bill "a very watered down piece of legislation and we're not even sure what impact it will have".

"In my view it seems to be that the minister is involved in a bit of window dressing," he added.

However, Givan said the bill had been approved by the executive.

"This bill is a product of the Northern Ireland Executive of which your parties have representatives on," the education minister said.

"There was opportunity to seek that legislation to be changed, to have inclusion within it by your members of the executive."

In a statement after the debate, Givan said the bill would provide the necessary powers to ensure schools adhere to statutory guidance to address affordability of school uniforms.

Addressing criticisms of the bill, the education minister said: "Suggesting that this legislation will not deliver for parents fundamentally misrepresents both the purpose and the strength of the bill.

"This bill requires that school uniforms are affordable and it places a clear statutory duty on the department to issue guidelines that address the cost burden on parents, while allowing schools the clarity and flexibility to implement these changes effectively."

It is likely the bill will have its final stage in the assembly in October 2025.

What is the average cost of school uniforms?

A UK-wide report in 2023 found parents were spending about £422 a year on secondary school uniforms and £287 on primary school uniforms.

Some families here can qualify for a one-off payment to help by uniforms for primary and secondary school pupils. There is no grant available for pupils in nursery.

The rates for the 2025-26 school year are:

• £42.90 for primary school pupils born on or before 1 July 2021

• £61.20 for secondary school pupils under 15

• £67.20 for secondary school pupils aged 15 and over

An additional payment of £26.40 is available for secondary school pupils to help with the cost of PE kits.

The Education Authority in Northern Ireland currently spends about £6m a year, to support 94,000 pupils, as part of the uniform grant scheme.