For schools and education
Energy for Schools and Multi-Academy Trusts
Energy procurement, weekend-baseload monitoring, SECR-compliant reporting, and DfE-aligned sustainability for state schools, independents, multi-academy trusts, and FE colleges.
- Sectors served
- State, MAT, independent, FE
- Budget alignment
- Sept-Aug academic year
- Reporting included
- SECR + DfE sustainability
- Insights inclusion
- Free across every meter
Education is its own thing.
We run procurement for individual schools, multi-academy trusts of 3 to 30+ schools, independent schools, and FE colleges. The mechanics are mid-market (consolidation, blend-and-extend, transparent margin) but the calendar is academic. Renewals are timed against the Sept-Aug year, budget visibility is set in writing for three forward years on demand, and break clauses are negotiated where the trustees need flexibility around capital projects.
The biggest free win for almost every school is weekend and out-of-hours baseload. Insights flags it automatically, the BMS gets a 20-minute reset, and the school recovers 5 to 15 percent of annual electricity. Purely Insights ships free with every contract; named case studies are at /case-studies/watford-grammar-school-for-boys and /case-studies/bosvena-school.
Sustainability reporting at school level is increasingly DfE-driven and trustee-questioned. We layer REGO-backed electricity onto any contract for a small premium, and we file SECR for the trust accounts where the trust has crossed the threshold. ESOS Phase 4 and full Scope 1-2-3 carbon accounting sit in /services/carbon-compliance for the larger MATs.
What’s included
Every feature listed ships in the standard product. Nothing here is a paid upgrade.
Procurement
- Whole-portfolio tender across 30+ tier-1 UK suppliers
- Academic-year contract end dates by default
- Three-year forward budget visibility on request
- Year-2 break clauses where capital projects need flexibility
- Single supplier across the trust or coordinated multi-supplier
- Wholesale + non-commodity + supplier margin + Purely margin shown separately
Monitoring and operations
- Purely Insights free across every school meter
- Weekend and out-of-hours baseload alerting
- BMS-actionable consumption reports per site
- Bill validation against the contracted rate every cycle
- Renewal-window alerts 6 to 12 months before contract end
- Change-of-tenancy support for school-site changes
Sustainability and compliance
- REGO-backed electricity layered on any contract
- SECR submission for trusts above the threshold
- DfE sustainability and climate strategy alignment
- Scope 1 + 2 emissions reporting per school
- ESOS Phase 4 cover for FE colleges and large MATs
- Board and trustee pack on request, branded if required
Specifications
The technical answers procurement, finance, and IT will ask for.
| Sectors served | State schools, MATs, independent schools, FE colleges, sixth-form colleges |
|---|---|
| Typical scale | 1 school through to 30+ school MATs |
| Decision maker | Bursar, COO, CFO, or Head of Estates |
| Contract terms | 12 to 60 months, often 36 with year-2 break |
| Renewal calendar | Aligned to academic year (Sept-Aug) |
| Budget visibility | Up to 3 forward years on request |
| Reporting included | SECR data export, DfE sustainability format |
| Insights monitoring | Free, weekend baseload alerting, per-school |
| Carbon and ESOS | Layerable via /services/carbon-compliance |
| Case studies | Watford Grammar (live), Bosvena School (live) |
Compare
Side-by-side against the realistic alternatives, no straw men.
| Feature | Purely Energy education | Public-sector framework (CCS, ESPO) | Incumbent renewal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole-of-market tender | 30+ tier-1 suppliers | Framework panel only | 1 supplier |
| Margin transparency | Shown separately | Framework fee disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Academic-year alignment | Default | Possible, negotiated | Whatever the renewal is |
| Weekend baseload alerting | Built in via Insights | Not included | Not included |
| SECR / DfE reporting | Included data export | Separate engagement | Not included |
| Year-2 break flexibility | Negotiable on most contracts | Framework dependent | Rare |
Real-world use cases
Scenarios from the Purely Energy book of business.
| Customer profile | Scenario | Outcome with Energy for Schools and Multi-Academy Trusts |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-academy trust, 22 schools | Bursar needed weekend-heating exceptions flagged before the term ran out of budget. | Insights flagged 6 sites with weekend baseload above 8 kW. BMS reset across all 6. Projected £41k saving for the academic year. |
| Watford Grammar School for Boys | Single school, real saving, real numbers, see /case-studies/watford-grammar-school-for-boys. | Real named case study, full detail at /case-studies/watford-grammar-school-for-boys. |
| Bosvena School | Smaller estate, similar challenge, see /case-studies/bosvena-school. | Real named case study, full detail at /case-studies/bosvena-school. |
Frequently asked questions
Do you work with state schools, independents, MATs, or FE colleges?
All four. The mechanics of consolidation, transparent margin, and Insights monitoring are the same across each. The differences are in budget cycle (academic year for state and MAT), reporting requirements (DfE for state, charity-commission for independent, AoC for FE), and ESOS qualification (large FE colleges and big MATs typically qualify).
Can contracts be aligned to the academic year?
Yes. Sept-Aug end dates are the default for education customers. Where existing contracts run on calendar-year cycles we coordinate the switch at natural break points to align everything within 18 months without forced exit fees.
What does the weekend-baseload alerting do?
Insights monitors half-hourly consumption per meter and flags any site with overnight or weekend baseload above a threshold you set. Most schools find at least one site running heating or hot water through Saturday and Sunday because of a BMS schedule that nobody updated. The fix takes 20 minutes; the saving runs annually.
Do you handle SECR for the trust accounts?
Yes, where the trust crosses the SECR threshold (250+ employees, or turnover above £36m and balance sheet above £18m). We collate the meter data, apply DEFRA factors, draft the directors' report narrative, and hand a director-ready submission to your auditors. Detail at /services/carbon-compliance.
Do you supply REGO-backed renewable electricity?
Yes. REGO-backed electricity layers onto any school or trust contract for typically £1 to £4 per MWh extra. It allows market-based Scope 2 to be reported as zero, which is the lever DfE-aligned sustainability strategies actually depend on.
What about ESOS for larger trusts and FE colleges?
ESOS Phase 4 lands in 2027. Qualification thresholds catch any large company or large group, which includes most multi-academy trusts above ~30 schools and most FE colleges. We provide the lead assessor in-house and run the audit cycle through /services/carbon-compliance.
Will we have a single named contact?
Yes. The named account contact who runs the quote becomes your day-one contact for the contract life. For multi-academy trusts the same contact handles the trust-wide review and the per-school questions, with quarterly business reviews as standard.
Question not covered? Call us on 0161 521 3400 or request a quote and we will answer it during the discovery call.
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Ready to discuss Energy for Schools and Multi-Academy Trusts?
Same-day quote for SME, 48-hour turnaround for mid-market and I&C portfolios. Every quote shows wholesale, non-commodity, supplier margin, and Purely margin separately.