The hidden costs of schooling that can mean a £1000 bill for parents
Kelly Rose Bradford
Netmums contributorFrom school trips to packed lunches, the pennies soon add up...
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Most parent's bank balance takes quite a hammering at the start of a new school term, what with shelling out on all that new school uniform, plus PE and games kits.
We won't even talk about the take-out-a-second-mortgage cost of school shoes... (like, why are kids shoes half the size of adult ones yet twice the price?!).
But if you were thinking that's the major school-related spending – at least until the next huge growth spurt, rucksack getting 'lost' on a school trip – think again...
High street store Matalan has revealed that parents will have to cough up even more dosh over the course of the academic year – up to £1000 in fact – on all the HIDDEN costs of schooling.
The what now?!
The store has launched an online interactive calculator (you can play with it via the link below) which allows parents to work out by the region they live in, and the number of kids they have, and their ages, just how much they'll end up splashing out over the year.
Matalan shared some of its parents' findings with us, which revealed that secondary school proves to be the most expensive school stage for families, with mums and dads coughing up to £910 a year for school related stuff per child. Gulp.
And perhaps not surprisingly, Greater London has been revealed as the UK's most expensive region when it comes to shopping for school kit and essentials, with a whopping £1,060 spend per child, per year.
Meanwhile, mums and dads in Wales are really having to splash the cash when it comes to school trips, with an average lay out of £76 per kiddo per school year.
And in general, parents in the UK will fork out £124 on school dinners and packed lunches per youngster per year. That's a hell of a lot of concrete chips and lumpy custard...
If you're feeling brave, you can check out Matalan's interactive calculator here and see just how much all those not-so-little extras are going to cost you ...
Need to replace lost or grown out of school uniform? Amazon has a wide range of purse-friendly school clothes for both primary and secondary-aged kids. See more details here.
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