DfES publish research on cost of schooling

Counting the cost of going to school
25.11.04

…parents face annual bill of almost £1000 a year…

The cost of sending children to school is now so high that some parents face spending almost £1000 a year according to research undertaken by the Department for Education and Skills.

The Cost of Schooling is a major piece of government research published today. Interviews have been carried out over the last year with 1500 parents and carers.

The key findings show that the total average spend for sending children to state schools is £736.22 rising to an average of £948.11 for secondary school students.

'These latest government figures show the increasing cost of sending children to school,' said CPAGs Chief Executive Kate Green. 'The real costs of education are a day to day pressure for many parents from low income households and today's report must be a springboard for government action.'

The Cost of Schooling also found that the largest individual area of cost was meals during school time. On average parents and carers spend £316.20 a year, the equivalent of £1.66 a day. CPAG are a leading voice on school meals and Kate Green said,

'We know that up to 350,000 children each year are not claiming their free school meals for a number of reasons including fear of stigma and bullying. But many of these children's families can not afford an extra £316 a year and so they will go without.'

Other annual costs of schooling that parents have to spend on include:

• £78.47 on PE Kit
• £224.69 on school uniforms
• £186.72 for residential trips
• £15.71 for school photographs
• £7.29 a week for travel
• £25.32 for school funds

  'The Cost of Schooling must be a wake up call for the government to seriously consider more financial support for low income families.' said Kate Green. 'Many low income families will not be able to afford to spend over £200 on school uniforms let alone £180 for residential trips or £78 for a new PE kit. They will have to rely on such things as second hand clothes or they will simply have to go without.'

  'We would encourage schools and LEAs to reduce the costs where possible for visits and extras such as fund raising for the school. But the government must recognise that its own research shows that sending children to school is expensive and action must now be taken.'

Notes for editors:

The Cost of Schooling is published by the Department for Education and Skills (Brief No. RB588 ISBN 1 84478 334 0). It was written by Tim Brunwin, Sam Clements, Gemma Deakin and Ed Mortimer.

A copy of the research overview is available from www.dfes.gov.uk/research

The Child Poverty Action Group and Citizens Advice were members of the advisory group to the DfES on The Cost of Schooling.

CPAG published its own report The Costs of Education; a local study which found that 1 in 5 children went without an item of school clothing because of lack of money. More details from www.cpag.org.uk

For further comment:
Ashley Riley
Press Officer
Tel 020 7812 5216
Mobile 07811 324339
ariley@cpag.org.uk

or CPAG Reception on 020 7837 7979 ext 0