School uniform and clothing: Guidance for schools and education authorities

Policy and legislative context

There is no legal requirement for pupils to wear uniform when attending school in Scotland. Schools are encouraged to have a uniform or clothing policy in place for the reasons set out in the introductory section. These policies should always be affordable and sustainable and promote and support an equal and inclusive culture within schools, recognising the individual needs of pupils.

Decisions about school uniform and clothing policy are the responsibility of individual schools. These decisions should be taken in collaboration with pupils, parents and carers, and teachers and school staff, and within the context of relevant policy and legislation. This is briefly summarised below, with more detail provided in Annex A.

Education

Scotland has a strong legislative and policy framework, underpinned by the principles of equity and inclusion and a rights-based approach to education. This focuses on Getting it right for every child and working together to overcome barriers to learning to support pupils to reach their full potential, regardless of their background or circumstances. This includes Keeping the Promise to care experienced children and young people to ensure that they “grow up loved, safe and respected.”

As part of an empowered system, all those who are involved in the education of children and young people, including pupils themselves, are vital partners, working together to improve outcomes for learners. Education authorities must promote the involvement of parents and carers in the education of their children. Parent Councils play an important role in the development and implementation of school policies and education authorities have a legal duty to promote the establishment of, and support the operation of Parent Councils.^[4] Teachers and school staff are also key partners. They should be given time to contribute meaningfully to the development and review of uniform and clothing policies and be empowered to support a positive culture that recognises and responds to the needs of all learners, working collaboratively to support pupils to be the best they can be.

Children’s rights

Education in Scotland is further underpinned by a rights-based approach. The principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) should be embedded within school policies. The Convention should be considered as a whole. However, in the design of uniform and clothing policies, education authorities and schools should have particular regard to Article 2 (non-discrimination), Article 12 (respect for the views of the child), Article 13 (freedom of expression) and Article 28 (right to education).

Tackling child poverty

As part of our wider ambitions to create a wellbeing economy, the Scottish Government is committed to addressing child poverty. The Child Poverty Strategy and its delivery plan set out a range of measures designed to address inequality, and disadvantage, and meet the ambitions and requirements of the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017. Alongside this, there is a firm commitment to improve outcomes for pupils impacted by poverty, with a focus on tackling the poverty-related attainment gap.

To support these aims, the Scottish Government in partnership with local government have a joint agreement to provide a minimum amount of school clothing grant to eligible families to help them to meet the cost of school clothing. In 2024/25, the minimum amount is £120 for eligible primary school pupils and £150 for eligible secondary school pupils. Further information on school clothing grant is available here: Help with school clothing costs

Equalities

The Equality Act 2010 places specific requirements upon education authorities, managers of grant-aided schools and proprietors of independent schools to prevent unlawful discrimination in their schools based on protected characteristics.^[5]

Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 sets out the Public Sector Equality Duty and the requirements placed upon education authorities and the managers of grant-aided schools to have due regard to the need to:

• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act.
• advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
• foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.