World Book Day: cost of living pushes schools to ditch dress-up plans

‘Costumes can be a huge expense for parents, especially if they have more than one child’. Photograph: Radius Images/Alamy

Some schools have scrapped costumes for World Book Day on Thursday, citing the cost of living crisis.

While in the past many schools asked children to dress up as their favourite book character for the event, in recent years some schools have adopted more flexible policies, asking children to wear pyjamas or comfortable clothing instead.