School uniform and clothing: Guidance for schools and education authorities

Status of the guidance

The guidance refers to both school uniform and school clothing throughout. This is intended to capture any items of clothing or footwear that are worn during the school day. This may include traditional items of uniform; clothing for physical activity and sport; clothing to participate in outdoor learning or; clothing worn to attend school trips or participate in activities or occasions either as part of the school day or in the wider school community.

This guidance is non-statutory. It applies to all public schools in Scotland and is intended to support schools and education authorities to make local decisions about their school uniform and clothing policies.

This guidance is also available to grant-aided and independent schools to consider when developing their school uniform and clothing policies. Grant-aided and independent schools are strongly encouraged to take account of this guidance when reviewing uniform and clothing policies in their schools. Early Learning and Childcare settings that have a uniform or clothing policy may also find this guidance helpful.

An executive summary has been developed to highlight the key messages from this guidance. This is available here: A summary of guidance for schools and education authorities.

Resources designed to communicate the key messages from this guidance with parents and carers and with pupils have also been developed. These can be accessed at the following links: Guidance on school uniform and clothing: information for parents and carers and Guidance on school uniform and clothing: information for pupils.