The pair that falls apart in January was usually chosen in August on the wrong criteria. Not price, and not brand. The wrong criteria are things like buying a size up to last the year, buying on the child's preference in the first thirty seconds, or buying without checking the width at all.
School shoes are worn roughly six hours a day, five days a week, in all weathers, for around thirty-nine weeks. Nothing else in a school uniform works that hard. Here is how to choose a pair that gets to July.
Three ways school shoes die before Easter
Outgrown. The most common, and the least avoidable. Primary-age feet can go up a size or more in a school year, and there is no shoe that solves that. What you can control is not wasting months of a shoe's life by buying it too big at the start and having it fail in other ways instead.
Worn out. The outside heel wears at an angle, the sole thins under the ball of the foot, the stitching at the flex point opens. This is honest mileage, and it is mostly determined by construction and by whether the shoe ever got a chance to dry out properly.
Destroyed. Toes scuffed through to the lining by the end of the first half term. This is football at break, or a scooter, or dragging the toe on a bike. It is a use problem, not a quality problem, and it needs a different answer to the other two.
The fitting, in order
Do it late in the day, with the socks they will actually wear to school, and measure both feet. Feet swell over a day and most people have one foot larger than the other, so both facts change the answer.
- Length. Roughly a thumb's width between the longest toe and the end of the shoe. Note that the longest toe is not always the big toe.
- Width. Press across the widest part of the foot. If the leather is straining or the foot spills over the sole edge, the length is irrelevant. A shoe available in width fittings is worth paying for on a wide or narrow foot.
- Heel. Hold the shoe and lift the heel. A little movement is normal; a heel that lifts clear of the shoe will rub, and will keep rubbing.
- Flex point. Bend the shoe. It should crease where the foot creases, at the ball, not in the middle of the arch.
- Fastening. Laces, buckle or riptape all work, but the shoe must be adjustable in some way. A slip-on with no fastening relies on the toes gripping to keep it on, which changes how a child walks.
- The walk. Both shoes on, a couple of minutes of walking, and a look at the child's face rather than a question. Children will say a shoe is comfortable because they want to leave the shop.
Then answer the question you actually came in with
If your child is between sizes
Go with the larger size, but only if the heel holds and the fastening can take up the slack. If the larger size slips at the heel, take the smaller size and accept you will replace them sooner. A slipping shoe causes blisters, and blistered children take their shoes off.
If they play football at break every day
Assume the toes will go. Choose a shoe with a reinforced or rubberised toe bumper, and a leather upper rather than a coated synthetic, because leather takes polish and scuffs can be worked back in. Consider keeping a second, older pair for the last term rather than buying two new pairs. And be aware that break-time football is what turns a well-made shoe into a six-month shoe.
If the school insists on all black
Check what “all black” covers before buying. Some schools mean the upper, some mean the sole and the stitching too, and a fair few now exclude anything with a visible logo or a trainer-style sole. Secondary schools tend to be stricter than primaries about this. Two minutes on the school's uniform page saves a return.
If they have wide feet, narrow feet, or one foot bigger
Buy from a range that comes in width fittings and fit to the larger foot. Padding out the smaller side with an insole is straightforward. Squeezing the larger foot into the smaller size is not, and it is how children end up with ingrown toenails.
If they are mid growth spurt
Year 6 and Year 8 are the usual culprits. Buy sensibly rather than expensively, check the fit at every half term, and put the saved money towards the pair you will be buying at Easter. This is the one situation where the cheaper shoe is genuinely the better decision.
If the budget is tight
Spend on the shoes and save elsewhere. Shoes are the item where a poor purchase costs you twice, because a failed pair has to be replaced mid-year at whatever price is available in the last size on the shelf. Trousers and shirts are far more forgiving.
Once they are bought, the maintenance is small and it works. Wipe them dry the same evening rather than leaving them wet by the door. Never dry them on a radiator, which cracks leather and unglues soles; stuff them with newspaper and leave them somewhere warm instead. Polish once a fortnight. If the school allows it and the budget stretches, rotating two pairs will more than double the life of both, because leather needs a day to dry out properly between wears.
School shoes, trainers and games footwear all sit in our footwear range, and if break-time football is the thing wearing them out, a proper pair from the football collection for after school will take some of that punishment instead. Your school's own uniform page in the school directory will tell you what its shoe rules actually say.