With all the leading supermarkets now selling reasonably-priced school uniforms – including Lidl's astonishing uniform for £3.75 deal– it can be hard to know where’s best to get your kids kitted out for the next school year.
Thankfully, The Sun newspaper did us all a favour and put Tesco, Aldi, Asda and Sainsbury's budget uniform offerings to the test. Their lab experts put each supermarket's polo shirts, sweaters and skirts through 40 machine washes – apparently "the average number required each school term" – and declared Tesco's F&F school uniform the best.
The paper reports:
'Tesco’s £9.50 package came top of our rankings, Asda’s £8.50 2nd and Sainsbury’s £14.50 offering was 3rd.'
The winning F&F school uniform range features easy-iron materials in stain repellent and eco-friendly fabrics, and their trousers feature all-important reinforced knees (an absolute essential, if you ask me) and – get this – shoes tested to walk 100 miles. I reckon my lads easily clock up that many miles in the average school term!
For style-conscious school kids, F&F School Uniform also includes stretch materials with hidden placket detailing in slim leg trousers, pencil skirts and kilts. You can check out the full F&F School Uniform range here.
Personally I'm usually loyal to Marks and Spencer when it comes to school uniform – it might be pricier than the supermarket's bargain offerings but their trousers can pretty much last my lads a whole school year – no mean feat, given how much time they seem to spend skidding on their knees and rolling around on the grass in the playground.
I also rate Matalanfor good value school shirts that wash really well. If they're worn under school jumpers all day, I find you can pretty much get away without ironing them, too! Just don't tell anyone I said that.
We'd love to know what you think about supermarket school uniforms. Which brand do you think offers the best value? Do you have a favourite?
Leave a comment here or come and join the conversation over on our Facebook page.
You can also take part in our poll and have your say on the best place to buy the best value school uniforms.
Asda jersey dresses don't bobble - compared to sainsburys one I bought at same time for my daughter. So impressed even after tumble dryer. Sainsburys gingham dresses are so lovely and don't need ironing. So shop around!
Has anyone tried NOMA stain-resistant hydrophobic Non-Iron school shirts or the CKL branded Schoolwear? They are much better quality, like the wool knitwear, and their blazers are a great fit. All the Mum's in the school who use them love them. They wash superbly and last a lot longer too, so it works out cheaper at the end of the day. And you get the benefit of far better fabrics - like the wool knitwear. The hydrophobic school shirts are amazing. So much better than the supermarket stuff.