Buying a uniform and a gym kit is no longer enough for many - with mobile phones and mp3 players also must-have items for the playground.
Parents will be taking a significant financial hit as the new school year starts - with some being forced to shell out over £1,600.
Insurance provider Sheilas' Wheels said today that demanding school-age children, many of whom insist on being bought mp3 players and mobile phones so that they can show them off in the playground, are causing one in five parents to use their credit cards in order to fund the spend.
Moreover, two in five parents questioned by the insurer even said that they felt "pressured" by their offspring to buy them a top-of-the-range, and therefore expensive, gym kit. However, the large majority (87 percent) said that they were attempting to cut their losses by shopping around for the best Back to School deals.
Jacky Brown at Sheilas' Wheels home insurance commented: "Every parent knows that it's costly to kit out a child for school with the basics, let alone designer gear and must-have gadgets."
Additional findings of the study include the fact that 43 percent of children take their mobile phone in to classes with them, and that 19 percent do the same with mp3 players.
Style-savvy schoolchildren were even making their mark, with three percent carrying hair straighteners in their bags.
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