If your school’s uniform list has looked the same for years, this September is the year that changes. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act became law in April, and its uniform provisions land properly from 1 September.
Here’s what’s actually changing, and what it means for your wallet.
1. Schools can no longer pile on the branded items
From this term, schools have to cap the number of compulsory branded items at three, rising to four if one of them is a tie. This is a hard limit, written into law, rather than a suggestion. It exists because some schools had let branded requirements stretch well beyond what any child actually needs to look presentable.
Worth knowing: the cap covers PE kit as well as classroom uniform, so if your child’s sports kit has quietly ballooned into its own branded ecosystem, that should be reined in too.
2. Coats, bags and trainers shouldn’t need a badge on them
The guidance is clear that expensive, everyday items (coats, bags, trainers) shouldn’t be locked into branded-only purchasing. A school can ask for a coat that’s sensible and plain, but it can’t insist on a coat that’s only available from one shop at three times the price of a perfectly good one from anywhere else. This is the detail that gets missed in most of the coverage, so if your school’s list still has these as “branded required,” it’s worth asking why, because the answer should now be: it can’t be.
3. Every school has to make second-hand uniform available
Naturally, this is the one we’d argue matters most, and it’s had far less airtime than the branded-item cap.
Schools now have a duty to make sure second-hand uniform is actually accessible to parents, and to publish how, on their website. That could be a PTA-run swap shop, a partnership with a local scheme, or a proper online marketplace like Uniformd. It shouldn’t just be a vague line in a policy document.
This is exactly why Uniformd exists; not as an afterthought bolted onto compliance, but as the practical mechanism that makes the second-hand promise real rather than theoretical. A school can tick the legal box with a cardboard box in reception… Or it can give parents something that actually works.
4. There’s flexibility for families who are struggling, but it has to be handled properly
The guidance is explicit that schools must take a considered approach where a family can’t comply because of cost, and extra care is required if non-compliance connects to something protected under the Equality Act. In practice, that means no child should be pulled out of a lesson or singled out because a parent hasn’t managed to source every branded item in time. If that’s happening at your child’s school, it’s out of step with the guidance schools are now expected to follow.
5. Check your school’s published policy before you buy anything new
Every school should have published, by now, exactly which items are compulsory and branded, and which aren’t. Before you spend a penny on new-for-September kit, it’s worth checking that page. Some schools will have trimmed their lists significantly; others may still be catching up. Either way, you’re entitled to know what’s actually required versus what’s simply always been on the list out of habit.
And before buying new for anything that isn’t compulsory-branded (jumpers, trousers, skirts, PE kit) check what’s already circulating second-hand in your school community. There’s a reasonable chance someone’s child has grown out of exactly what yours needs, sitting in good condition, for a fraction of the price.
The bottom line
Most of this comes down to schools and suppliers catching up with rules that were, frankly, overdue. We welcome the change, and hope to see more and more schools use a platform like Uniformd to make second-hand uniform easy to find and easy to sell within school communities.
School Uniform 2026 FAQ
Three, or four if one of them is a tie.
Yes. PE kit counts towards the same limit as classroom uniform.
Yes. From September 2026, schools have a legal duty to make second-hand uniform genuinely accessible to parents and to publish how on their website.
No. Guidance is clear that these everyday, expensive items shouldn’t be locked into branded-only purchasing.
Options include school-run swap shops, PTA schemes, local exchange groups, and dedicated platforms such as Uniformd, which lets parents buy and sell within their own school community.
Schools are required to take a considered approach to non-compliance caused by financial hardship, and no child should be excluded from lessons or singled out as a result.
