We have high expectations of all students and their uniform.

• School polo shirt: with school badge and appropriate house colour trim. This item must be purchased from the school’s uniform supplier. 

• School jumper: navy blue knitted jumper with embroidered school badge, and appropriate house colour stripe. This item must be purchased from the school’s uniform supplier. 

• Trousers: formal, black, tailored style only. The school’s uniform supplier stocks boy’s and girl’s school trousers. Trousers must be tailored style and loose fitting. If parents are able to match the style by purchasing from high street stores this is acceptable. If you wish to buy trousers from another supplier please check that they conform to the same specification as those available from our official suppliers. We do not allow denim, canvas or chino styled trousers. No leggings, jeggings, very narrow leg, trousers which end at the ankle or tight fit items, no zips, studs or rolled up styles. 

• Shoes: sensible, plain black, flat shoes of a design that can be polished. Trainers and canvas shoes are not permitted. No boots and no high heels. 

• Socks: should be plain black (no socks over tights). 

• Coats: any sensible, weatherproof outdoor coat (no denim or leather jackets or hooded sweatshirts). Fluorescent bands or strips are encouraged for road safety purposes. 

• Hairstyle: hair to be groomed and a natural single colour. No unnatural coloured hair dye. Extreme forms of hairstyle are not acceptable.

Acceptable School Trousers

Unacceptable School Trousers

• Skirt: school tartan patterned skirt, knee length. This item must be purchased from the school’s uniform supplier. 

• Shorts: formal, black, tailored style only (no cargo pockets, no side pockets, no logos of any kind).  School shorts can be purchased from the school’s uniform supplier and they are also currently available at ASDA and Matalan (only the school style is allowed from these suppliers, see below).   

• Tights: if tights are worn they must be black or neutral in colour and not be footless. 

• Jewellery: maximum of 1 pair of earrings (stud or sleeper) in the ears and/or one stud in the nose. No other facial piercings, spacer style or spiked earrings allowed. Pupils will need to remove any other form of piercing. All jewellery must be removed for PE/sports activities. 

• Nail varnish: only clear nail varnish is allowed and pupils will need to remove coloured varnish. Long acrylic nails are a health and safety risk and are not allowed. 

• Make-up: make up is only allowed if it is applied discreetly. Heavy make-up, false eyelashes etc. are not permitted and pupils will need to remove this. 

• Vest: if a pupil feels the cold they can wear a vest or thermal layer under their polo shirt. This must not be visible at the neck. No T-shirts under polo shirts. 

• Watch: pupils may wear one standard (non-smart) wristwatch. 

• Leggings do not meet the expectation that pupils wear formal, tailored style trousers. 

• Pupils should not wear hoodies or sweatshirts to school. This includes under or instead of a water-proof coat. 

• Pupils should not wear/ bring smart watches to school. These are expensive items and can cause a distraction. They are also not allowed by exam boards to be worn during exams/assessments. 

• As outlined in our uniform expectations, pupils are permitted to wear a maximum of one pair of earrings in the ear and/or one stud in the nose to school.  These must be removed for PE/ sporting activities regardless of the age of the piercing.  A new piercing is not an acceptable reason for being unable to remove jewellery before taking part in PE, the piercing will not close during the lesson and refusal to remove jewellery will result in a lunchtime detention in the first instance.  Multiple pairs of earrings in the ears are also not allowed.  

• Other jewellery, such as necklaces, bracelets or rings are not allowed. 

• Shoes must be made of a material that could be polished.

If there is a uniform infringement, we will confiscate incorrect items that can be removed.  For other items we will require your child to change.  They can change in school if we have spare uniform in their size, otherwise parents/carers will be contacted to bring correct uniform or take your child home to change.  If a pupil refuses a reasonable instruction to get changed this will result in sanctions, including time in the BSR until the unform infringement is rectified. Refusal to enter the BSR or repeatedly failing to meet basic expectations may result in more serious sanctions, including suspension from school.

Price and Buckland is the school’s uniform supplier and items from them must be purchased online.   

Their website is: https://price-buckland.co.uk/backwell-secondary-school-bristol 

New school shorts can be found here.

At the time of writing they are also available from Matalan and ASDA.

Click here for detailed sizing guides and click here to view a video on how to measure your child for their uniform. 

We also hold regular second-hand uniform sales.  Items are first come first served and we cannot guarantee uniform will be available in all sizes. 

Those entitled to Pupil Premium funding will receive a voucher in the Spring towards new uniform items. Due to the way funding is released to schools we cannot offer any financial support towards uniform costs before then. 

Essential 

• A strong waterproof bag to carry your belongings 

• A pencil case to contain: 

• • Minimum two pens (blue or black ink) 

  • Minimum two pencils 

  • Ruler (at least 15 cm) 

  • Rubber 

  • Sharpener 

  • Protractor 

  • Pair of compasses 

  • Scientific calculator * 

• For DT food lessons pupils will need a named, sealable Tupperware container for transporting cooked items home 

Desirable 

• Reusable water bottle 

• Colouring pencils 

• Highlighter (any colour) 

• Glue stick 

• Safety scissors 

* The calculator strongly recommended by the maths department is the Casio fx-83GT CW. Although any of the calculators on the link below would be acceptable: CASIO Calculators. 

We recommend that you label your child’s bag, water bottle, pencil case and calculator.  Please note that Tippex or any other correcting fluid is not permitted.