School children's lost property adds up to almost £200 million a year

School uniform - schoolchildren find it hard to hang ontoThe amount of school uniform that goes missing each year adds up to the same cost as a year's worth of childcare for 37,000 children, or would put 7,300 kids through university, according to new research by TU at Sainsbury's and Mumsnet.

The most common item to go missing are jumpers, followed by PE kit. And the most common scapegoats children use to get them off the hook are animals, blaming the loss on everything from the family dog to tigers.

But despite its high chance of being lost, the survey also found that school uniform was the most cost-effective outfit kids will ever own. Parents spend an average £137 each year on their child's school uniform but new garment technology means that it stands up well to daily wear.


And although price is important, it's not the be all and end all for parents. Three quarters of them revealed they chose uniforms based on their time-saving qualities, such as permanent pleats in skirts and non-iron shirts. This is unsurprising as almost half of the parents surveyed admitted spending a gruelling two hours a week cleaning, ironing and mending items of school uniform.

Another piece of uniform trivia that emerged from the survey was the news that trousers are now more popular than skirts with 51 per cent of school girls opting for the same uniform as the boys.

Whatever your kids decide on, it's definitely worth stitching in those name tags!