Around this time of year, supermarket shelves are plastered with back-to-school materials. Staplers, sharpeners, calculators, uniform, notepads – the full works. For children, going back to school can come with mixed feelings, often excitement and anticipation, and sometimes pressures like the fear of making friends, settling back in and doing homework.
But for their parents, September comes with a different kind of stress. The back-to-school list brings with it huge financial burden for many parents, and every year the associated costs of sending your child back to school are only mounting.
On Wednesday of this week, children’s charity Barnardos revealed the results of their Back to School Survey 2025, in which 830 parents participated. This included parents of 497 primary and 333 secondary school students. It found that more than half of school parents (54%) are worried about costs associated with sending their child to school.
Similar to previous years, buying new and expensive uniforms (that children quickly outgrow) and paying voluntary contribution fees are reported as the largest sums that parents consistently are expected to pay.
More than three quarters of school parents said that their schools requested a voluntary contribution, and the average amount requested by schools was €87 for primary school parents and €133 for secondary school parents. Seventy-three percent of primary and 78% of secondary school parents said the payment did not feel voluntary.
For secondary school students, the cost of digital devices was cited as an area of particular and growing concern. Fifty percent of secondary school parents said their child’s school required them to pay for digital devices and the average cost was reported as €430.
Responding to the Barnardos survey, one secondary school parent describes being “called to a meeting in the school where they advised that we would have to buy a chrome book for our child which cost €500.”
Cutting back
To meet the back-to-school costs, Barnardos reveals that many parents are having to dig into their savings, take loans, borrow from family and friends or make cutbacks in order to meet the demand. Some of the parents surveyed say they have to make cuts elsewhere or skip paying certain utility bills. Over one quarter of secondary school parents (27%) and 14% of primary school parents say that they have to use savings to meet back-to-school costs.
Many of the themes raised in the Barnardos Back to School survey are consistent with the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) survey that was released in July.
Like Barnardos, ILCU conduct an annual back-to-school survey with 728 parents interviewed for this year’s research.
Irish Country Living spoke to David Malone, CEO of the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) who said that one of the biggest areas of concern from the 2025 research was that one in three parents go into debt to cover back-to-school costs. This is something also reflected in Barnardos’ research.
David Malone, CEO of Irish League of Credit Unions, (ILCU).
“Our survey found the average debt incurred was €376. That is high. We even saw that 36% of households carried a debt of over €500.”
“What was worrying was the use of credit cards, in particular. It is a very expensive form of credit. Rates can be up to 25% and if you miss a payment, the debts can accumulate.”
The survey found that the total back-to-school spend in 2025 is €1,450 for primary school parents and €1,560 for secondary school parents. This is an increase on costs in 2024.
It is a lot of money and can be broken down into the many one-off costs that parents are expected to pay at the start of a new school term, including voluntary contribution fees, uniforms, gym gear, shoes, school trips, transport, after-school clubs – to name but a few.
David says that parents welcomed recent moves by the Government to reduce the burden on parents, including the Hot School Meals Scheme and the free Schoolbooks Scheme, which has now been extended to include students in post-primary school.
While these interventions have benefitted both parents and students, David says that the digital divide in education needs to also be addressed. Nowadays, it is just as common to see tablets and laptops used as learning tools in the classroom as it is books and worksheets. David says many parents would like to see more support with technology.
Access to technology
The costs associated with accessing digital devices, which rapidly are becoming integrated in classroom learning across a range of subjects, is also a concern raised by parents in the 2025 Barnardos survey.
“Parents did highlight a technology policy gap,” explains David. “Because in today’s education, it’s not just about books or workbooks, it’s more about tablets and laptops.
“Certainly the parents replying to the ILCU survey would say they really want the Government to think more about the technology that they now have to invest in as well. It is a very expensive piece, but it’s also important for the child and to have access to that.”
In the ILCU survey, over one third of parents said that they had to cut back on at least one back-to-school item. This is usually gym gear, according to David. “There was also reference to extracurricular activities, school trips and family holidays being curtailed,” he says.
“When you cut back on these items, it’s impacting the health and wellness, not just of the child but of the wider family. It’s having an impact potentially on the physical and mental health and wellbeing of the child and their social development and we definitely saw that in the survey.”
The Barnardos Back to School Survey 2025 received 830 responses, including 497 primary and 333 secondary school students. 27% of secondary and 14% primary school parents said they have to use savings in order to meet back-to-school costs. 50% of primary and 60% secondary school of parents stated they are worried about meeting costs this year.Parents discussed having to go without or cut back on other essentials to meet back-to-school costs.See barnardos.ie and creditunion.ie
Around this time of year, supermarket shelves are plastered with back-to-school materials. Staplers, sharpeners, calculators, uniform, notepads – the full works. For children, going back to school can come with mixed feelings, often excitement and anticipation, and sometimes pressures like the fear of making friends, settling back in and doing homework.
But for their parents, September comes with a different kind of stress. The back-to-school list brings with it huge financial burden for many parents, and every year the associated costs of sending your child back to school are only mounting.
On Wednesday of this week, children’s charity Barnardos revealed the results of their Back to School Survey 2025, in which 830 parents participated. This included parents of 497 primary and 333 secondary school students. It found that more than half of school parents (54%) are worried about costs associated with sending their child to school.
Similar to previous years, buying new and expensive uniforms (that children quickly outgrow) and paying voluntary contribution fees are reported as the largest sums that parents consistently are expected to pay.
More than three quarters of school parents said that their schools requested a voluntary contribution, and the average amount requested by schools was €87 for primary school parents and €133 for secondary school parents. Seventy-three percent of primary and 78% of secondary school parents said the payment did not feel voluntary.
For secondary school students, the cost of digital devices was cited as an area of particular and growing concern. Fifty percent of secondary school parents said their child’s school required them to pay for digital devices and the average cost was reported as €430.
Responding to the Barnardos survey, one secondary school parent describes being “called to a meeting in the school where they advised that we would have to buy a chrome book for our child which cost €500.”
Cutting back
To meet the back-to-school costs, Barnardos reveals that many parents are having to dig into their savings, take loans, borrow from family and friends or make cutbacks in order to meet the demand. Some of the parents surveyed say they have to make cuts elsewhere or skip paying certain utility bills. Over one quarter of secondary school parents (27%) and 14% of primary school parents say that they have to use savings to meet back-to-school costs.
Many of the themes raised in the Barnardos Back to School survey are consistent with the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) survey that was released in July.
Like Barnardos, ILCU conduct an annual back-to-school survey with 728 parents interviewed for this year’s research.
Irish Country Living spoke to David Malone, CEO of the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) who said that one of the biggest areas of concern from the 2025 research was that one in three parents go into debt to cover back-to-school costs. This is something also reflected in Barnardos’ research.
David Malone, CEO of Irish League of Credit Unions, (ILCU).
“Our survey found the average debt incurred was €376. That is high. We even saw that 36% of households carried a debt of over €500.”
“What was worrying was the use of credit cards, in particular. It is a very expensive form of credit. Rates can be up to 25% and if you miss a payment, the debts can accumulate.”
The survey found that the total back-to-school spend in 2025 is €1,450 for primary school parents and €1,560 for secondary school parents. This is an increase on costs in 2024.
It is a lot of money and can be broken down into the many one-off costs that parents are expected to pay at the start of a new school term, including voluntary contribution fees, uniforms, gym gear, shoes, school trips, transport, after-school clubs – to name but a few.
David says that parents welcomed recent moves by the Government to reduce the burden on parents, including the Hot School Meals Scheme and the free Schoolbooks Scheme, which has now been extended to include students in post-primary school.
While these interventions have benefitted both parents and students, David says that the digital divide in education needs to also be addressed. Nowadays, it is just as common to see tablets and laptops used as learning tools in the classroom as it is books and worksheets. David says many parents would like to see more support with technology.
Access to technology
The costs associated with accessing digital devices, which rapidly are becoming integrated in classroom learning across a range of subjects, is also a concern raised by parents in the 2025 Barnardos survey.
“Parents did highlight a technology policy gap,” explains David. “Because in today’s education, it’s not just about books or workbooks, it’s more about tablets and laptops.
“Certainly the parents replying to the ILCU survey would say they really want the Government to think more about the technology that they now have to invest in as well. It is a very expensive piece, but it’s also important for the child and to have access to that.”
In the ILCU survey, over one third of parents said that they had to cut back on at least one back-to-school item. This is usually gym gear, according to David. “There was also reference to extracurricular activities, school trips and family holidays being curtailed,” he says.
“When you cut back on these items, it’s impacting the health and wellness, not just of the child but of the wider family. It’s having an impact potentially on the physical and mental health and wellbeing of the child and their social development and we definitely saw that in the survey.”
The Barnardos Back to School Survey 2025 received 830 responses, including 497 primary and 333 secondary school students. 27% of secondary and 14% primary school parents said they have to use savings in order to meet back-to-school costs. 50% of primary and 60% secondary school of parents stated they are worried about meeting costs this year.Parents discussed having to go without or cut back on other essentials to meet back-to-school costs.See barnardos.ie and creditunion.ie
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