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.
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Supermarket school uniforms put to the test
