OFT begins study into school uniforms

110/06 5 July 2006

The OFT has started a fact-finding study into the school uniforms market, which is estimated to be worth around £450m per year.

Almost all state school pupils in the UK are required to wear a uniform of some description, with around half of all UK schools enforcing a strictly specified uniform. Uniform codes are generally the responsibility of a school's board of governors. State schools are currently free to:

appoint a manufacturer to produce school wear which the schools sell direct to parents
appoint retailers to source and sell school wear, or
inform parents of the general requirements of a uniform which they may purchase anywhere.

The OFT has received complaints from parents regarding high prices and poor quality at school nominated outlets, as well as from retailers claiming that the market is foreclosed to them. The OFT is interested in the interaction of government and markets within this area.

As part of the survey, the OFT has written to nearly 10,000 state schools in the UK to find out whether their uniforms policy allows choice on where to purchase the uniform. It will ascertain how many require parents to purchase uniforms from either a retailer designated by the school or the school itself rather than from school uniform retailers generally. It will also assess whether such arrangements are more prevalent in any particular type of school (eg. primary/secondary, single sex/co-ed), whether they have a detrimental effect on poorer families, and whether they offer any benefits to schools.

John Fingleton, Chief Executive of the OFT said:

'This study will allow the OFT to see whether exclusive contracts between schools and retailers have an adverse effect on the prices paid by parents, as well as the quality and value of school uniforms.'

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