Making blazers optional should be “carefully considered”, according to the group overseeing new national guidance on school uniform and clothing in Scotland.
The group believes “a cultural shift” is necessary “to fully address and implement a sustainable and affordable approach” to school uniform.
Minutes from a group meeting also state that families “can sometimes feel pressure to send their children to school in brand-new clothes at the start of every term” and guidance should be “strengthened to mitigate this”.
The group’s suggested changes include a “greater emphasis” on “pre-loved” (second-hand) school uniform and “being clearer that branded items should not be compulsory”.
The minutes of the School Uniform Working Group’s August meeting, published last week, state that “the inclusion of blazers as an optional item should be carefully considered”.
They also make it clear that exclusion “should not be used as a measure to tackle non-wearing of uniform”.
The document adds that comfort should be a key consideration when it comes to uniform, “particularly for children and young people with additional support needs or sensory needs, to ensure that uniforms do not act as a barrier to learning”.
New guidance on school uniform
The Scottish government has committed to introducing national statutory guidance on school uniform before the start of the 2024-25 session.
It has said a key reason for introducing the guidance is to reduce costs for families.
The government has ruled out abolishing school uniform altogether, but it plans to retain the current position that there is no legal requirement for Scottish pupils to wear school uniform.
A few Scottish schools, including James Gillespie’s High in Edinburgh, do not require students to wear a uniform - unless, in the case of Gillespie’s, it is a special occasion.
A national consultation on school uniform, which ran from May to October 2022, attracted 2,751 responses, including 261 comments on blazers.
Of those, 17 indicated that blazers should be optional and 152 indicated that blazers should not be part of school uniform.
Reasons given for this view related to both cost and their suitability for the Scottish climate.
There were also 37 responses suggesting that blazers should be worn in secondary schools only.
