What Size Lab Coat Does a Year 12 Student Need? (Parent's Guide)

For a Year 12 student, the short answer is: most fit an L (60cm chest) or XL (63cm chest) lab coat. Our Sizing Chart maps L to Year 11–12 and XL to Year 12+, so Year 12 is where the tallest students in the cohort — and plenty of average-height ones — land in the XL.

It's also the last school lab coat you'll probably buy them, which makes getting the fit right doubly worth two minutes.

L or XL? How to Decide

• L (60cm chest, 107cm length) if the coat they wore in Year 11 still sits right — sleeves past the wrist bone, fastening without pulling, hem at or just above the knee
• XL (63cm chest, 110cm length) if the Year 11 coat has gone snug in the chest or short in the sleeves — the classic signs of final-year growth

Taller than XL? The chart continues to 2XL and 3XL — the full range is on the Sizing Chart. Sizes above XL are the same cut and the same price, so a tall Year 12 pays no premium.

The 2-Minute Check (No Measuring Tape Needed)

Compare a garment they already wear over other clothes:

1. Lay it flat on a table
2. Measure armpit to armpit (chest) and top of collar to hem (length)
3. Match the numbers to the Sizing Chart

Between sizes? Go up, not down — a lab coat is made to fit loose.

One Year-12 Question Worth Planning For: The Uni Hand-Me-Down

The lab coat your child wears in Year 12 is the same adult-cut coat (XXS to 3XL) that university science students buy for themselves — so a coat that still fits comfortably at the end of Year 12 can go straight to first-year labs instead of into a cupboard. If that's the plan, a slightly generous fit in Year 12 is the smarter buy: a coat that's snug in October will still be snug at uni in March.

Our article do you need a lab coat at uni? explains what first-year science actually asks for.

Check Your School's Booklist First

If your school is supplied by us, its page on Booklisted Schools shows the exact coat, colour, and size range the school has chosen. Where a school specifies sizes by year level, that's the fastest answer.

Common Parent Questions

My child stopped growing in Year 10 and their L still fits. Buy anyway?

No need to replace on principle — the replacement triggers are fit and condition, not the calendar. If the coat still sits right and the seams and press studs are sound, it can carry them to graduation. (Our when to replace a lab coat guide has the full checklist.)

Do bigger sizes cost more?

No — every size from XXS to 3XL is $24 ex GST in white, $27 in navy. A 3XL costs the same as an XXS.

What if I get the size wrong?

Free size exchanges within 7 days — see our Returns & Exchanges page.

They need safety spectacles too — anything to know?

The booklist will say. We stock safety spectacles alongside our coats, so both booklist items can come from the one order.

Where to Next

Browse the Shop, check Booklisted Schools, or read the complete guide: What Size Lab Coat Does My Child Need? (Year 7–12). Sizing questions? Contact us — we're happy to help.