PARENTS are spending more money to send their children back to school with the cost of uniforms and equipment soaring, new research suggests.

The back-to-school market, worth £855 million in 2017,  saw a 36 per cent increase to £1.2 billion in 2018, according to research agency Mintel, making it the third-biggest retail spending spike after Christmas and Black Friday.

Parents spent an average of £134 on school uniforms and shoes last year, Mintel found. The biggest increase in spending was on computing equipment, followed by stationery — a total of £100m was spent on items such as notebooks, pens and pencil cases last year compared with £65m the previous year.

National Education Union (NEU) joint general secretary Kevin Courtney urged schools to do their utmost to keep the costs down by using non-branded items and avoiding sole uniform suppliers, adding that, even so, “the costs mount up.”

He said: “A recent hearing of the education and work & pensions select committees heard deeply upsetting stories from families struggling to meet the costs of food during the school holidays and school uniforms for the start of the new school year. Some parents said they went without food or other essentials during the summer months to help cover these additional costs.

“The NEU fully supports the campaign by [Labour MP] Emma Hardy for schools to do away with branded uniform items and to avoid stipulating a particular shop for buying uniform.”

More than 40 per cent of parents surveyed said they feel pressure to buy their children branded products and nearly half said there is more pressure now than previously to buy fashionable items.

Labour MP Lisa Forbes, who recently raised the issue in Parliament, said that many of her constituents in Peterborough approached her with concerns about the increasing financial pressures to provide their children with hundreds of pounds’ worth of branded uniform.

She said: “This is yet another avoidable burden placed on families who can least afford to bear it. It is simply wrong that parents are expected to pay these costs in order for their children to attend school and without even having the option to shop elsewhere.”

Director of the Gingerbread charity Faye Goldman said she was disappointed that some local authorities have chosen to cut discretionary grants, “which have been vital” in helping parents to afford their children’s uniform.

“For single parents working extra hard to keep up with the rising cost of living, this is yet another penalty on family essentials,” she said. “Being able to dress your child for school should not depend on a postcode lottery, and this inconsistent policy is frankly unfair on those families who miss out.”