Back to School Checklist

The list breaks down by Reception, Primary (Years 1 to 6) and Secondary (Years 7 to 11) because the kit a 4-year-old needs to start school is genuinely different from what a Year 7 needs on their first day. Reception is light: a sweatshirt with the school badge, a couple of pairs of trousers or a skirt, plimsolls for indoors, a named water bottle and a lunchbox. Total spend usually lands somewhere between £80 and £150 if you buy everything new from a high-street uniform supplier.

Primary kicks up the stationery side of things: a proper pencil case, a 30cm ruler, a compass for Year 5 and 6 maths, glue sticks (always more than you think). Secondary is the expensive year. A scientific calculator alone is £10 to £18, the blazer with a school badge is often £35 to £60, and PE trainers add another £25 to £40. The UK average back-to-school spend per child for a secondary starter sits around £337 according to retailer surveys, which surprises most parents the first time.

Most schools send the official uniform list in the last week of summer term. The single best move is to start buying in late June or early July rather than the August panic week, because branded blazers and PE tops in popular sizes routinely sell out by mid-August. Tesco's F&F, Sainsbury's Tu and Asda's George do unbranded staples (white shirts, plain trousers, plain skirts) for under £6 per item, and most schools allow these for everything except the badged jumper or blazer.

The other thing worth knowing: nearly every UK secondary school runs a uniform exchange or pre-loved sale on the last week of summer term. Blazers in good condition often go for £5 to £10. PTAs run them, the Facebook group will mention them, and the saving over a £45 new blazer is real. Tick items off this list as you go so you do not double-buy. If you are also moving house this summer, the [Moving House Checklist](/moving-house-checklist) handles the bigger picture so the school kit does not get lost in the boxes.

The single most-asked-about line on every back-to-school list is name labels. Iron-on labels for clothing cost about £8 for 100 and stick through 50 plus washes. Stick-on labels for water bottles, lunch boxes, pencil cases and reading folders are roughly £6 for 60. Sharpie on the inside hem works for jumpers in a pinch but fades after about ten washes, so it is worth doing properly for the items that get lost most: jumpers, cardigans, water bottles, lunch boxes and PE bags. Schools collect mountains of unnamed lost property by October half-term, and very little of it ever gets back to its owner.