Parents will spend more than £1,400 kitting out their child with back-to-school essentials over the school years.

A study, of 1,200 parents of school-aged children, found £120 is the norm to spend at the start of each school year – on the likes of new shoes, pencil cases, and lunchboxes.

Over the 12 years from Reception to Year 11, this totals £1,440.

Of parents surveyed, 73% said they worry about the cost of the back-to-school shop, and half have even had to cut back on other spends such as…