It’s a golden time, and one I thoroughly embraced all those years ago. I loved it at sixth-form college, experimenting with all kinds of trends and styles.
The Schoolwear Association has found the average cost of compulsory school uniform and sportswear items is £101.19 per pupil, but I’d say that with regular replacements for torn/lost/outgrown things, the annual cost will be at least double that. And this is perhaps now the case more than ever. The more pressure there is exerted from schools, the more isolated and excluded pupils from less-advantaged homes feel.
Given that official government figures say that exactly one third of Year 11 pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland failed to achieve a pass in English and maths this summer, it’s obvious that stringent rules on shoe colour and heel height are having a negligible effect on what really matters.