Claire Shoesmithexamines the significant costs involved in sending your children back to school

While September may induce a headache for many children who know their days of lazing around or playing with their friends are coming to an end, just the mere thought of sending their offspring back to school can instil fear in many parents - and that's not because they don't want to be parted from their youngsters.

A recent study by Bank of Ireland found that educating a child can cost more than €38,000, and it is that substantial amount of cash that sends shivers of dread down the backs of many parents as school approaches.

"People often just refer to uniform and books, but the start of the school year coincides with lots of other costs too, such as piano lessons, swimming coaching and drama classes," says Annemarie Wade, managing director of Schooldays.ie, a discussion and advice website for parents of school-going children.

"All these costs add up and can be a big headache for some parents."

According to the Bank of Ireland study, it costs about €500 a year to send a child to primary school, €800 a year for secondary school and as much as €7,500 a year for third level. This means that if your child opts for the maximum level of education, it will set you back a grand total of €38,000, the equivalent of a top-of-the-range sports car.

"Sending a child to school from primary right through to third level is an expensive exercise, particularly if there is a requirement to source accommodation during the college years," says Bernard Walsh, head of investments at Bank of Ireland Life.

Still, it is often the early years that cause parents the most strain as many are unaware of the costs they face. On top of the expected items such as uniform and books, many schools also require voluntary contributions of as much as €250, as well as additional payments if a child plans to take part in any extra curricular activities.

Add to that the after-school care costs, which can be as much as €190 a week, and one-off items such as First Communion clothes and celebrations, which can set you back another €1,000, and educating your child is proving to be an expensive past time.

So what can you do to help yourself? As far as uniform is concerned, Wade urges parents to shop around. She says that prices can vary significantly depending on where you shop, with jumpers starting at as little as €3 in some large stores, but rising to as much as €17 in others. The same goes for trousers, which can range in price from as little as €2.85, to as much as €25 depending on where you shop.

One tip from Jan O'Sullivan, the Labour Party's spokesman on education is to buy, where possible, generic items of clothing such as blazers and jumpers and sew your child's school logo onto the clothing yourself. This, she says, can save a substantial amount of money and means parents can shop in the high-street stores instead of the more expensive specialised outlets.

A grant is available for school clothing and footwear, though even after a near 60 per cent increase in the last budget, children's charity Barnados believes the €190 for children between the ages of two and 11 is not enough. Moreover such grants aren't available to everyone and according to Norah Gibbons, the charity's director of advocacy, the costs associated with children returning to school are a burden for many families who are not necessarily on the breadline, particularly one-parent units, many of whom do not qualify for the grant.

Books are a different issue, though still an expensive one, with primary school books costing about €150 and rising to as much as €460 for secondary school. While there is no Government-administered grant scheme, families that are dependent on social welfare or have low incomes can benefit from a Government subsidy that is administered by the individual school principals.

Some schools also offer their own rental programmes and it is also sometimes possible to buy some of the books second hand. This, however, is proving increasingly difficult as the curriculum changes and is something of a bugbear for O'Sullivan.

"We shouldn't be in a situation where families have to buy new books each year just because a few pages have changed," she says, adding that the solution as she sees it is for a countrywide book rental scheme to be set up.

While some families will struggle more when it comes to sending children back to school, there is no doubt it is an expensive business and even for families not facing the challenges of very low incomes, it can present the kind of arithmetic problems last experienced in a maths class.

Tips for parents:

• Make a list of all you need to buy, eg. uniform, books, sports gear

• Try to estimate the cost of each item - be realistic, check the prices

• Look for ways to minimise the costs, for example, by checking if there is a book rental scheme in the school

• Add up the total cost and check if you are eligible for the Back to School Allowance or other welfare payments

• If you need to borrow money, make sure you shop around for the best value loan (look for the lowest APR - the interest rate you will pay on the loan) and only borrow the amount you actually need.