Families’ back to school purchases ‘could end up in lost property within weeks’

August 12, 2025 Shehroz Malik No Comment 2 Views

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Parents may be busy stocking up on “back to school” items but for around two-fifths of families some purchases will soon be destined for the lost property cupboard, a survey indicates.

Some 43% of parents surveyed said their child tends to lose an item within six weeks of a new school year, according to cashback and rewards website Rakuten.

Tech items (average cost £47.68), school shoes (£43.44), and school blazers (£38.50) topped the list of items that parents said are the most costly to replace.

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PE kits, dresses, skirts, trousers, jumpers, shirts, shorts and ties were also among the list of items that parents said had vanished.

Lunchboxes, pencil cases, stationary and water bottles were also among the items to disappear.

On average, parents estimated they spend £131 per child on back-to-school shopping at the start of the academic year.

Lost items are not the only reason for additional spending, as nearly two-thirds (63%) of parents have faced replacing ruined or damaged items.

More than half (53%) of parents have replaced school shoes within the school year because their child outgrew them.

More than a third (37%) of parents have even had to replace school shoes more than once within a single school year.

Nearly two-fifths (39%) of parents said they have felt frustrated at replacing school items.

Nearly half (48%) of parents label school essentials and the same percentage (48%) said they remind their child almost daily to look after their belongings.

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Rakuten commissioned Opinium to survey 2,000 people across the UK in July for the research.

Bola Sol, a savings expert at Rakuten said: “Back to school season can feel like deja vu for parents, buying new shoes, jumpers or water bottles only for them to vanish in the first few weeks of the new term. It adds up fast.”

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