大象传媒

How much money have you spent to help with costs at your children's school?

One school in Wiltshire has asked parents for voluntary contributions towards the 拢50,000 cost of entering students for their GCSEs. The Bishop Wordsworth's School in Salisbury says it's "finding funding settlements difficult to manage".

5 live's Stephen Chittenden spoke to parents in Essex about the other costs they're sometimes asked to contribute towards.

State-funded schools in England are not allowed to charge for activities that are part of the national curriculum, but can ask for voluntary contributions for optional extras.

One parent said she spent 拢700 sending her child on a trip to Rome, which she described as "exorbitant".

Another parent spent 拢200 on school uniform but said "kids need uniform, it's probably the same cost as usual clothes".

This clip is originally from 5 live breakfast on Friday 13 May 2016.