When schools have a uniform, teachers tend to walk around the building punctuating their journeys with a repetitive refrain: “Tuck your shirt in…Straighten your tie…Those aren’t regulation trainers…Your skirt is too short.” Is it worth the hassle? And more importantly, could a strict uniform policy actually create discrimination?

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Regulations elsewhere in the world also tend to support the right of schools to decide on their uniforms, as long as they do not discriminate based on gender, race, disability, sexual orientation or belief.

But what does the evidence say about uniform? Guidance from social mobility charities the Sutton Trust and the Education Endowment Foundation states that “there is no robust evidence that introducing a school uniform will, by itself, improve academic performance, behaviour or attendance”.

As a uniform is often introduced alongside other policies, it is difficult to isolate its effects. Anecdotal evidence suggests that introducing a new uniform in challenging schools can be seen as a public commitment to improvement, and there are some indications that they can improve attendance in high-poverty areas. But the findings are far from unequivocal.

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