Supermarket school uniforms put to the test
Supermarkets are battling to provide the best school uniform buy. They're coming cheap, with entire shirt, sweatshirt and trouser combos going for £3.75-£6. Each uniform has their own unique claims: Tesco say their clothes have 'dirt defenders' are Sainsbury's say theirs are 'easy iron'. ASDA promises theirs will 'last 100 days'.
The test
We thought it was time to put them to the test - so we took them to a lab and tested seam strength, shrinkage after a few washes and a good staining with ketchup, mayonnaise, ink and squash.
The results
The supermarkets did very well; no-one failed, they met all UK standards and our testers were quite impressed. Here are the results and the supermarkets' comments.
Sainsbury's £6 uniform
Strength - None of their items were weakest in their category.
Shrinking - The width of their polo shirts decreased by more than anyone else's. 10% after one wash.
Staining - a notable mark left by the mayo and the ink stain.
Marks & Spencer's £4.50 uniform
Strength - M and S's trousers took the least pressure to break. They were the worst of all the supermarkets we tested.
Shrinking - after one wash, the trousers and sweatshirts shrunk more than the others.
Staining - very noticeable marks left by the ink and the mayo.
Tesco's £3.75 uniform
Strength - none of the uniforms shrunk the most in any of the 8 categories that we tested.
Shrinking - the only brand with every item shrinking as expected, with the exception of the waist band of the trousers.
Staining - top in this category again. Our testers put four different stains on the tops and all were removed.
Asda's £4.50 uniform
Strength - overall good marks - but after ten washes, their skirt's fabric proved to be the weakest.
Shrinkage - not great marks for ASDA. The polo shirts lost 10% of their length after just one wash. The highest of any of the brands.
Staining - not bad - only a stain left from the mayo.
So final results from our lab tests - remember they all passed UK standards but we've marked down for every fault we've found in our test - drum roll...
M&S: C MINUS
ASDA: B MINUS
SAINSBURY'S: B
TESCO: top of the class - A MINUS
Sainsbury's says:
All our Back to School clothing is rigorously tested at independent testing laboratories to ensure it stands up to the wear and tear of school life and offers great value for money for parents who are kitting out their children for school. We also have a no quibble returns policy. This allows any customer who has a faulty garment to return it and demonstrates our confidence in the quality of our back to school range.
Your strength and abrasion tests confirmed our own findings - that Sainsbury's Back to School clothing meets British standards.
As far as the staining test result is concerned, all our Back to School trousers and skirts are Teflon coated and therefore stain repellent. Cotton polos and sweatshirts don't have a stain resistant coating, although most stains can be removed quite easily at home by using the right stain removal product.
We are, however, very surprised at your results on shrinkage. Our own independent tests show shrinkage levels at nearer to 5% which is an acceptable industry standard. Unfortunately we don't know what temperature the garments were washed at (we recommend 40 degrees on the washing instruction labels) so we can't really make an informed comment about the results.
M & S says:
"As the number one retailer of school wear, we've sold over 5 million items of school wear so far this year, and we get very positive feedback from customers about the quality of our school wear offer. M&S school wear recently came top in three separate customer tried and tested's conducted by national newspapers looking at criteria such as quality, durability, value, and comfort.
We test all our school wear rigorously, so are surprised by some of the results from Watchdog. We test the fabric and components of every garment to ensure its physical strength, its colourfastness and to make sure it doesn't shrink, tear, fade or bobble. Additional independent tests carried out for us did not support the Watchdog findings.
The level of shrinkage the Watchdog tests found on the trousers and sweatshirt is completely at odds with all the tests we have had independently conducted both as part of our routine testing and with the additional tests we undertook having received Watchdog's findings.
The sweatshirt you tested is not a stain repellent one and is not promoted as stain repellent garment."
Tesco says:
Since the launch of the £3.75 Value Uniform (Value polo shirt 50p, Value sweatshirt £1.75, trouser or skirt £1.50) we have sold over 120,000 Value Uniform pieces, saving customers nearly £55,000 against last year's prices.
Tesco customers know that our low prices do not come at the expense of quality and so they can enjoy the best value uniform on the market safe in the knowledge that it has been stress tested by the toughest kids in the playground.
We are also proud of the strength, and length, of our relationships with suppliers and have been working with many of them for over 10 years. Tesco is able to offer a £3.75 uniform to customers due to the relationships, and also the volumes we buy in. We share business plans with all suppliers so they can plan such aspects as work patterns well ahead.
Asda says:
Price is extremely important to the George shopper however they do not want throwaway clothing especially when it comes to kids clothing. They look for quality first and foremost, and then at a price they can afford. The price is low because we don't rip customers off, why should parents have to pay more?
George at ASDA is the market leader on offering the highest quality school uniform at the most affordable price giving our customers real value for money. Some retailers are becoming increasingly focused on being the lowest priced uniform at all costs where quality appears to be an afterthought. Others do offer quality but at extremely high prices especially on uniform for older boys and girls. Our quality is comparable to the very best but much better value for money.
We know our customers put their kids first and they want the best for them, we know this because they have told us. They are willing to pay a little more for quality if it means durability (in a Pulse of the Nation survey by TNS, 68% of people said they look at quality then price)
We have invested £millions into upgrading the quality of our school uniforms this year- yet our customers can still pay the same price as last year. All our trousers contain Teflon, our shirts and sweatshirts are 100% cotton and we use Lycra.
Have supermarket uniforms made your life easier? Leave your comments below.
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I thought this report was a pointless piece of investigative reporting. What was the purpose of the item - was it to discredit the companies selling the uniforms at such a low price??? I have no idea. Surely we should be praising the pricing of the uniforms in these troubled economic times rather than spending time and money on trying to find fault. Shame on you watchdog - it must have been a quiet night thats all I can say. Believe me, if my son's 50p polo shirt only lasts a month - I think I'll push the boat out and buy him another.
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the supermarkets have proved good cheep school uniforms , but too early in the summer as my little boy went back this week, and i went to get a couple more things and all have stop selling them, saying that all school are back so now stocking winter clothes . I did not get all school uniform as my boy shot up by 2 - 3 inches so i wanted more jumpers as it has only just turned cooler and now you can not get them ! why cant they carry on till at least one month after they have gone back and they do konw when they go back as its good marketing . So to help provide good cheep uniforms they dont provide it long enough
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Credibility blown out of the water on the first programme! Did it not occur to Ms Robinson to probe the statement that an item of school uniform could be manufactured in the Third World and shipped to the UK (at a profit) for 50p and still allow the workers to receive a 'fair wage'? There was a clear need for a hard-hitting follow-up question [Personal details removed by Moderator]
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The issue I have with school uniforms is the monopoly that my daughter's school gives to one supplier, [Personal details removed by Moderator] which means that the cost of the clothes is way in excess of the ones advertised on the programme. Her school is a comprehensive with pupils from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds, some of us who are not at all well off. Because of the woven in badges on the sweater, blazer, PE shorts and sports jacket, it is impossible to buy elsewhere. The jumper cost £22, the blazer £36, The tracksiuit trousers £16.99. I was unable to buy the sports jacket in her size as she is extra small and the assistant wrongly infomed me back in July that they could not do a special order. She is required to wear one for a trip tomorrow and I am sending her in a plain M&S one. She tells me she will get into trouble. I don't know who is more stressed, her or me. How many other schools operate in this way? This really is a scandal to be investigated. Another thing they told us at a new parents' evening was that we needed to purchase combination sports padlocks for lockers. These are not cheap, but i sent her in with one on the first day. She is now informed that we have to buy this from the school. There seems to be a lack of understanding of the meaning of credit crunch. Are teachers not affected? It all seems very socially exclusive for a state school. No doubt there will be expensive school trips for those from better off families.
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The format of this programme was not what I would expect of the BBC. More like a third rate cable channel. What was the point of the School Uniform tests? Does anyone understand what was being said? Mums know what is the best quality, we don't need watchdog to tell us this. Can we have the old watchdog back please
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I too found this item a bit bland and Scattycaffee has raised a far more interesting question. Like her, my children's school insists on school uniform with an embroidered badge and so a polo shirt that I could get from Asda for £2-3 costs £15 or more because it has to come from a specialist supplier. Then add on two different sweatshirts, sportswear, football boots which get used about once a term, and so on. It all adds up and the schools really don't seem to care that for some parents, this is money which could be better spent elsewhere. Schools generally get some kind of fee back from the supplier (I can't see the difference between that and a kickback!) and aren't interested in parents concerns or willing to engage in a debate over this practice. No parent will initiate such a debate or rock the boat for fear of thier child being singled out in some way at the school. I was under the impression that the government had told schools to end this practice yet clearly it carries on all over the country. This would make a far more interesting feature rather than bleating about whether you can get an ink stain out of a £3 pair of trousers.
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Since my last post I have now seen that Tesco are now running a national Add campaign on the back of these dubious comparative tests on BBC watchdog! great use of TV licence money. Well done BBC and a big thankyou from Tesco
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There is something definitely gone wrong with bbc lab. By mistake, has someone mixed Tesco and M&S products??
We buy M&S for just quality…, and it does always keep the commitment on quality. Perfect schoolwear - long lasting materials. they are normally number 01 and they will be back in A+ next time.
Watchdog needs to carry out proper survey with parents before grading supermarkets on uniforms. Limited info will not provide the black & white pictures. You need to re-visit this again next year with ground rules.
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Yes, they do make life easier. Our son is growing at an alarming pace and being able to buy cheap shirts and trousers for school helps our budget.
When I was at school we had to buy all our uniform from an authorised supplier and the cost was huge.
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I too am sick of Colleges that insist on embroidered sweatshirts et al. My two daughters turned up in the appropriate gear; we were informed one term later that the emboidered fleece had to be replaced by a blazer (£25 each) and the enire colour of the sports uniform had changed, so new ones please (£20 each). I didn't have the money, told the school, who were very sympathetic. They shoved both of my daughters in detention for three weeks for 'disobeying the College Uniform Policy'.
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