Buying for schools

• From: Department for Education
• Published: 2 February 2016
• Updated: 10 February 2020, see all updates

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1. Contents

Resources for buying goods and services, and finding DfE-recommended suppliers.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) procurement information

Buyers in schools, or those who manage supplier contracts, can:

• read procurement policy note 01/20
• read the guidance for schools on maintaining educational provision
• join a school business professional network for peer-to-peer support
• sign up to receive updates from DfE on school resource management

Follow these guides to help you plan what you need to buy and get good value.

Find quality-checked suppliers using the find a framework tool.

There’s separate guidance on buying procedures and procurement law (including EU procurement law).

1. Books and educational resources Negotiate with suppliers to save money and make the most of their services.
2. Catering services How to find the best solution for the catering requirements of your school.
3. Cleaning services How to find the right cleaning solutions for your school or multi-academy trust.
4. Construction projects The different processes you could follow and the people you may need in place.
5. Consultancy: educational services, and design and build How schools can buy consultancy services and use a DfE-recommended framework to get good value.
6. Electricity Find the right way to buy electricity for your school.
7. Gas Find the right way to buy gas for your school.
8. ICT and computer hardware Find the right way to buy ICT or computer hardware for your school.
9. Legal How schools can evaluate the legal services they currently have, renegotiate fees and switch suppliers.
10. Multi-functional devices (MFD) and printing Find the right way to buy multi-functional devices (MFD) and printing services for your school.
11. Get help with buying for schools Support for school business professionals.

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