Parents shell out £6,800 in child's first year of secondary school

The first year of secondary school – year 7 – is the most expensive for parents who are typically having to shell out an average of £6,800 during the year, the study found. That excludes private school fees but includes the price of everything from lunch to end-of-year presents for teachers.

John Lewis commissioned research to build up a picture of how much British parents spend preparing their children for school. The retailer has broken down the varying costs from reception through to year 13 (upper sixth) excluding school fees, across categories including uniform, stationery and technology as well as hidden costs like parking and even raffle gifts. The total also includes childcare to cover school inset or training days, school social events, and even costumes, props and party clothes.

Parents of year 7 children stump up more for the latest technology such as laptops, mobile phones and tablets (£1,000), school uniform (£400) and food and drink (£1,400) than any other school year to kit their children out for the new term.

Year 1 and reception gobble up the least cash, costing an average of £2,300 and £2,700 respectively.


Overall, the cost of schooling one child per year costs parents £4,700; secondary school costs an average of £4,900 per year compared to £4,200 a year while children are at primary school.

Surprisingly, perhaps, boys are more expensive to educate than girls, with an average year costing £5,500 compared to £3,900 for girls. Regional disparities can also be seen, with London the most expensive place per average year (£8,500) and Wales the cheapest (£2,800).

The incremental costs of feeding children daily soon add up, with food and drink (school lunches, packed lunches, snacks and lunchboxes) costing an average of £940 per year.


Johnathan Marsh, buying director, at John Lewis, said: “On average, children are bought their first laptop and mobile when they’re 11, which goes some way to explaining why year 7 is the most expensive.

“By breaking down the costs by year, we hope we’ll help parents budget in advance and arm them with the knowledge to make informed buying decisions.”

The German discount chain Aldi recently fired the first shots in the supermarket school uniform war, offering an entire school uniform for just £4.

The retailer’s Back to School range, part of its Specialbuys, also includes pinafores, scuff-resistant shoes, jackets and sports gear and has exactly the same prices from ages four to 11.

A round-neck sweater costs £1.25, two plain polo shirts £1.25 and a skirt or trousers just £1.50. For the same set of items, Tesco charges £8, Marks & Spencer £10.40, Asda £7, and Sainsbury’s £6.70.






Source -Here-