Alamy
A state school has been accused of following in the greedy footsteps of the country's football teams – by charging an arm and a leg for a PE kit.
Corfe Hills School in Poole, Dorset, has introduced a designer kit costing more than £90. Not surprisingly, it has been accused of ripping off parents.
The navy blue outfit has been made by international brand Kukri Sports and carries the state-run school's badge and the company's logo.
The top, shorts and socks cost £41 for boys and £34 for girls but the extra hooded top and tracksuit trousers – both non-compulsory – add £50 to the bill. With sports shoes, the total cost of dressing students for PE lessons runs to more than £100.
The kit will be compulsory for Year Nine pupils from September.
Mother Jeanette Heselden told Metro: "It seems that because you have to get these kits through the school they have complete control over you. I think these prices are extortionate."
Uniforms must be "widely available in high street shops and other retail outlets, and internet suppliers rather than from an expensive sole supplier," under the Government's school admissions code.
Headteacher lan Hinchliffe has said the kit – backed by the school's parents' association – was "very popular" with pupils who found the old one out-of-date.
"Through using an online supplier, the school has managed to hold the kit cost and it discreetly runs a scheme that can help families with low income," he said.
Does this seem extortionate to you or actually horribly familiar, once you've included trainers?