Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 2:50 pm on 21 September 2022.
I thank Joyce Watson for that supplementary question. She's right to say, of course, that the costs of school uniform are a considerable concern for many families. I wrote to schools over the summer recess, towards the end of the recess, to say to them that we will be looking again, as she says, at the guidance that's been in place for three years, effectively, at this point, but the scale of the issue is such that we need to look again at what more we can do. We know that the cost of uniform with school logos can be a real issue for families, so I will want to look at whether that is absolutely necessary and whether schools should be required to provide iron-on logos free of charge, so that the merits of the school uniform can be maintained without the costs being borne by those who are struggling most.
The PDG access grant that we run in Wales is the most generous of any part of the UK. It is actually worth up to £300 for pupils in year 7, which is a year where the costs are particularly challenging, but for other years it's £225, and this year it's been increased to that level. And that is one of a range of ways in which we support families, but the pressures that families are feeling due to costs are very, very real, and there are many families who don't qualify for free school meals who are also finding it challenging, obviously, which is why tackling some of those questions, like the cost of uniforms, is so important.