Back-to-school cost is now £186

IT IS now less than two weeks before children go back to school – and parents will be feeling it in their pockets.

A new survey has looked into the cost of returning to the classroom after the long summer break and found that parents should expect to spend a whopping £186.

That means nearly £2,000 per child in back-to-school costs across their education.

Sports equipment, school bags, stationery, books and technology, such as computer tablets, all bump up the cost.

The findings also show that many parents are turning to supermarkets to kit out their youngsters for the new school year.

Discount chains Lidl and Aldi have been helping to fuel school uniform price wars.

Some 46 per cent of parents said they will buy their child’s school shirt from a supermarket and 47 per cent will get their child’s school skirt or trousers from there.

While 43 per cent of parents plan to buy their child’s school shoes from a department store, one in four (25 per cent) will buy them from a supermarket.

The research suggests parents are more likely to worry about the cost of the back-to-school period than they are about the cost of the school holidays.

Some 40 per cent of parents worry about their finances at the end of August, while 36 per cent are concerned about funding the long summer break.

More than half of parents will use money in their current account to fund their back-toschool purchases, while more than one in ten say their child’s grandparents will be financing backto-school purchases.

Average amount spent on back to school costs per child:

Uniform/clothing – £31.29 School shoes – £25.90 Jackets and coats – £22.17 Sports shoes – £19.44 Sports kit – £16.36 Sports equipment – £8.95 School bags – £12.35 Stationery – £9.21 Books – £7.85 Lunch boxes – £6.60 Technology – £26.12