A UNIFORM crackdown has seen several students put into isolation when their school skirts were found to be too short.

A parent of a Carisbrooke College student complained to the County Press that the students were being punished for not following the uniform policy.

He said: "They think school uniform is more important than education. This is why the IW is behind the mainland education-wise."

The school said students who had acceptable skirts at home were sent home to change, and those who didn't were put into isolation, but were still continuing with their school work.

Headteacher Matthew Parr-Burnam said the uniform policy had not changed, but the school decided to take a closer look at the uniform, as they felt standards had slipped. He said parents had been given ample warning the uniform would be inspected on June 17.

He said: "We have not changed the policy at all, it is the same as it has been for years.

"A few weeks ago we said to parents that from today we would be sticking to the rules more accurately.

"At Easter we moved into our new building and, being busy with that, some stuff had been allowed to slip."

He said around 35 students had been identified for not being in the correct uniform. Some were wearing nail varnish, which was removed, and some were wearing black jeans instead of trousers. Several girls were in skirts shorter than the stipulated knee-length and were asked to go home and get changed if they had an alternative.

A group of students who have not found an alternative have been placed in isolation until they can find a solution.

Mr Parr-Burnam said: "There was a group of girls who should have been in knee-length skirts, but their skirts were halfway up their thighs.

"Uniform shouldn't be fashion based, as we would be changing it backwards and forwards and it would not be fair on the parents."

The same policy is in place at Medina College.