About this site
About Broadband for Schools and how we check our facts
Broadband for Schools explains school internet connectivity in plain English, for the people who have to buy it: school business managers, headteachers, bursars, trust IT leads and governors.
What this site is
An independent guide to buying and running internet connectivity for primary, secondary and special schools and multi-academy trusts across the UK: the Department for Education’s digital and technology standards, filtering and monitoring, cyber security, backup lines, funding, buying routes and how Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland differ. Alongside the guides there’s a bandwidth estimator, a printable provider checklist, key figures, a glossary, common questions and a free supplier directory.
Independent: not a broker, not a supplier
Broadband for Schools is an independent guide. We are not a broker, a reseller or a supplier, and we are not connected to the Department for Education, any local authority or any provider. We don’t sell connectivity, take referral fees from suppliers or run tenders. We are not procurement advisers or network engineers, and nothing here is advice about your own school.
How every guide is researched
- Official sources we have read. We work from Department for Education standards and guidance, statutory guidance such as Keeping Children Safe in Education, the devolved governments and other official bodies. Each guide lists the pages it was written from, and all of them are collected on our sources page.
- Dated checks. Each guide shows when it was last checked against its sources. Figures that change live in one key figures table so they can be updated in one place.
- Our own words. We rewrite what we read to be clearer. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- If we can’t verify it, we leave it out. We haven’t tested any supplier’s service ourselves, and we never say we have.
About the supplier directory
The directory lists companies that say they supply schools. We describe services as each company states them, and show buying frameworks as “company says” unless we found the company on the framework owner’s own list. Listings are free and in alphabetical order. Companies can ask to be added or corrected.
About the estimator and checklist
The bandwidth estimator multiplies the figures you give it and compares the result with published minimums — it has no made-up defaults. The provider checklist is drawn from the guides. Both are prompts to help you think it through.
How the site is paid for
A few banner ads, shown only if you accept ads cookies. See our advertising disclosure.
Who runs it
Broadband for Schools is owned by Steven Smith. Our sister site Broadband for Education covers colleges, universities and skills providers.
Found a mistake?
If something here is out of date or wrong, please tell us — ideally with a link to the official page that shows it. We correct errors as soon as we can and update the “checked” date.