Wearing school uniform 'does not affect' a child's behaviour at primary school (2024)

Wearing school uniform at primary school does not affect a child's behaviour or attendance, according to a new study.

In fact, new research says in schools where uniforms are compulsory, children are said to feel less sense of belonging to the school.

Uniforms are said to give children an identity and thought to improve behaviour because everyone looks the same.

The study looked at more than 6,000 children and was published in the journal Early Childhood Research Quarterly.

Arya Ansari, lead author of the study and assistant professor of human sciences at The Ohio State University, said: "A lot of the core arguments about why school uniforms are good for student behaviour don’t hold up in our sample,

“We didn’t see much difference in our behaviour measures, regardless of whether the schools had a uniform policy or not.

“There hasn’t been much research done on the value of school uniforms in the past 20 years or so, especially given how much their use has increased."

Those in favour of school uniforms have argued that they promote better attendance and a stronger sense of community - resulting in less bullying and fighting amongst children.

However the new study is now suggesting this is not the case.

Researchers used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, which followed a nationally representative sample of 6,320 students from nursery-age through to age 11.

Every academic year, teachers rated each student on three dimensions: internalising behaviour problems such as anxiety and social withdrawal, externalising behaviour problems such as aggression or destruction of property and social skills.

Teachers also reported how often each student was absent.

It found that overall, school uniforms had no effect on any of the types of behaviour - even after taking into account a range of other factors that might affect students.

The study did find that pupils from low-income families who attended schools that required uniforms did have slightly better attendance - however that difference amounted to less than one day per year.

School uniforms were also not linked to any differences in bullying or social anxiety in the children.

But those who had to wear uniforms reported lower levels of school belonging than did those who attended schools with no uniform requirements.

Asst Prof Ansari added: "The data in this study can’t explain this finding. While uniforms are supposed to build a sense of community, they may have the opposite effect.

“Fashion is one way that students express themselves, and that may be an important part of the school experience.

"When students can’t show their individuality, they may not feel like they belong as much.

"The results of this study should caution parents, teachers and administrators from assuming that school uniforms have positive effects that they may not have.

“School uniforms may not be the most effective way to improve student behaviour and engagement.”

The study was supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

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