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A comprehensive school has been accused of putting undue financial pressure on parents by encouraging them to sign-up to a computer buying scheme for pupils.

St Martin’s School is asking parents of new Year 7 pupils starting in September to buy a laptop through a dedicated company – which costs more than if it was bought from other retailers.

At an open evening last month, parents were told that new pupils would need to order a new laptop from school computer company Edde.

Two models were available at a cost of either £523.13 or £685.38 (upfront) or £631 or £824 (paid through monthly instalments over three years).

The cheapest of these, a HP ProBook, costs just £270 on Amazon.

A concerned parent, who wanted to remain anonymous, contacted Caerphilly Observer to explain.

They said: “Considering the area we live in, the cost-of-living crisis and the fact they’ve given 12 weeks notice of this, it’s absolutely absurd. It is crazy [parents] haven’t been given enough notice to plan financially and also the stress of feeling that their child is going to miss out on their education is just too much in the current climate.

“Now I know the new curriculum requires digital competency, but surely it doesn’t encourage digital exclusion for those that can’t afford to purchase the school laptop or take in one of their own.” 

They added: “I find it so depressing that in this day and age we have a school that thinks this is in any way appropriate to ask parents to commit at a drop of a hat.”

The option to buy your own laptop outside of the scheme (or to use one already owned) is not possible as “educational” software will be managed by the school itself.

Caerphilly Observer contacted St Martin’s School for comment, together with questions about any commercial relationship it had with the company Edde, but did not receive a response.

According to a leaflet handed to parents, “educational software” will be installed on the computers so existing laptops, or those bought from other companies, cannot be used.

It also states that pupils whose parents opt out will get access to a computer during school time.

A Caerphilly County Borough Council spokesperson said: “The council has not been engaged in the decision by the school to ask parents to buy laptops. Indeed, these concerns should be raised with the school directly as St Martins does not have an agreement with the local authority for the provision of laptops or the associated support.”