Best Photocopiers For Schools: 2026 UK Buying Guide
Schools print in a way few offices do. Quiet for weeks, then a flood of worksheets, letters home, exam papers and reports, usually all at once and usually the morning they're needed. Add staff who print from laptops in every corner of the building, and a budget that's watched closely by governors and trusts, and copier buying in a school is its own particular job.
This guide covers what schools typically need, the machines worth considering, the government buying routes, and how to keep printing under control.
School print needs
Before looking at machines, it helps to know what your school actually does. The Department for Education's guidance for schools buying multifunction devices suggests starting with an audit that covers the number of devices, their make and model, current cost and location, existing lease agreements and expiry dates, annual print volumes and current spend (GOV.UK, checked October 2026).
Most schools end up needing a mix of:
- A central reprographics machine for big, planned print runs: fast, with high capacity trays and finishing such as stapling, hole punching and booklet making.
- Staffroom or department machines for everyday copying and printing: mid range speed, A3 for worksheets and diagrams.
- Office machines for admin: letters, forms and reports, often with secure printing for sensitive information.
The DfE guidance also makes a point worth taking seriously: buying several lower specification machines can sometimes be cheaper than one advanced model, and you keep printing if one breaks down.
Things to decide for each location:
- standalone or networked
- speed needed to avoid queues
- colour or mono
- scanning to email or folders
- finishing such as stapling, hole punching or booklets
- password protection and usage monitoring
Recommended models
These families are all current on their manufacturers' sites (checked October 2026) and come in a range of speeds, which makes them easy to match to each room.
| Role | Families to consider | Speeds available |
|---|---|---|
| Reprographics | Canon imageFORCE C7165; Ricoh IM C6011 to C8010; Xerox AltaLink C8155 / C8170 | 55 to 80 ppm |
| Staffroom or department | Canon imageFORCE C3100 series; Konica Minolta bizhub C301i / C361i / C451i; Kyocera TASKalfa MZ3501ci / MZ4001ci | 26 to 50 ppm |
| Office or small site | Ricoh IM C2011 / C2511; Xerox VersaLink C7120 / C7125 | 20 to 25 ppm |
| Mono heavy | Konica Minolta bizhub 451i / 551i; Kyocera TASKalfa MZ4001i / MZ5001i | 40 to 55 ppm |
A few notes on fit:
- Reprographics is where finishing matters. A booklet maker can save hours of staff time each week, but it adds to the lease. Price it separately.
- Departments benefit most from colour if they print diagrams and visual resources. Mono only machines are cheaper to run for text heavy work.
- Kyocera offers tiered colour billing on its TASKalfa range, charging less for pages with only a little colour. For worksheets with a coloured heading, that can help.
Our medium volume list and A3 guide go into more detail on mid range machines.
Frameworks
Schools don't have to run a full tender from scratch. The DfE recommends checking whether you can buy through a DfE approved multifunction devices framework.
The main route in 2026 is RM6361, "Multifunctional devices, govPrint hardware, managed print provision and digital workflow software services", run by the Government Commercial Agency. It replaced RM6174, which expired on 12 September 2025, and runs until August 2029 (GCA, checked October 2026). It's listed on the DfE's Get Help Buying for Schools service and covers:
- printers and multifunction devices with service and maintenance included
- managed print services and software to monitor and reduce printing
- cloud based digital workflow solutions
Frameworks bring pre agreed terms, suppliers that have already been vetted and a compliant buying process. You can still compare offers through a further competition, and you should.
Leasing rules for schools
This is the bit that catches schools out. The DfE guidance is clear: "Whether you choose to buy or lease, you can only enter into an operating lease. Financial leases are borrowing and unlawful, and are often poor value" (GOV.UK, checked October 2026). Always follow your school's or trust's procurement rules, and check the type of lease on any agreement before signing.
The same guidance warns that you may need to give more than 30 days' notice to cancel a lease, so diary the end date and notice window on day one.
Pricing
There's no single "education price list" for copiers. Prices depend on the framework, the supplier, the devices and your volumes. Published market ranges are a useful sense check (checked October 2026):
| Item | Published range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Lease, mid sized A3 colour (new) | about £49 a month | Midshire |
| Mono click charge | 0.35p to 1.5p a page | Digital Office |
| Colour click charge | 3.5p to 10p a page | Digital Office |
The DfE's checklist for running costs is worth following. Check the mono and colour rates, whether the standing charge or minimum monthly page use is realistic, whether the maintenance fee is fixed or variable, and what support you'll get, including fault reporting and turnaround times.
Timing the change
Schools have one big advantage over businesses: a predictable calendar. Changing copiers in the middle of a term, especially around mock exams or report season, is asking for trouble. The summer holidays are the natural window for installation, training and moving print queues, which means the buying process should start in the spring. Work backwards: if your current lease ends in August and needs three months' notice, the decision has to be made by May at the latest. Build in time for governors or the trust board to approve the spend.
Print control
Print management software is where schools save the most, and it's usually more effective than changing machines.
User login or card release. Staff send jobs to a central queue and release them at any machine with a card or PIN. No more piles of uncollected printing, and confidential documents aren't left on the tray.
Quotas and colour permissions. Limit colour to the staff or departments who need it. Set mono and double sided as defaults.
Department reporting. Show each department what it prints. Behaviour changes quickly once costs are visible.
Student printing. If students print, give them their own credit or quota so it's controlled and fair.
Security. School copiers store images of everything they copy and scan, including safeguarding documents and pupil records. Make sure drives are encrypted and wiped when machines leave. Our photocopier security guide covers what to ask for.
FAQs
What's the best photocopier for a school?
There isn't one. Most schools need a fast reprographics machine, mid range machines for departments and smaller machines for offices. Families like Canon imageFORCE, Ricoh IM C and Konica Minolta bizhub cover all three.
Can schools lease photocopiers?
Yes, but only on an operating lease. The DfE says finance leases are borrowing and unlawful for schools.
Which framework should a school use?
RM6361 is the current DfE approved framework for multifunction devices and managed print, replacing RM6174 from September 2025.
How can a school reduce printing costs?
Use print management with card release, set mono and double sided as defaults, restrict colour, and report usage by department.
Do schools get education discounts on copiers?
Framework pricing and competition usually deliver better terms than going direct. Always compare more than one offer.
Get quotes for your school
Use the form on this page to tell us about your school, the number of sites and your rough print volume, and we'll put you in touch with suppliers who can quote. Remember to check the lease type and the framework route before you sign.