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Managed Print Services for Schools
Reliable, secure and properly budgeted print for primary schools, secondary schools, academies and multi academy trusts. Devices that cope with September, exam season and the last week of term, on a contract a school business manager can sign off with confidence.
Schools print more than almost any other kind of organisation and usually with the least control over it. Worksheets, letters home, safeguarding records, exam papers, SEND resources and the endless admin behind all of it come off a fleet of devices that has grown a printer at a time, bought by different people, on different contracts, with toner ordered whenever someone notices it has run out.
Our managed print service for schools replaces that with something a school business manager can actually manage. We audit every device, design a fleet that fits the site and the timetable, install Fujifilm or Develop machines with PaperCut secure release and pupil quotas, and then run the whole thing for one monthly figure. Toner arrives before it is needed, faults are caught remotely and engineers come out from Bedford when they are needed.
CopyBox Document Systems is a family run, award winning business established in 2017 on more than 30 years of industry experience. We already support schools across Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Hertfordshire, we are an authorised Fujifilm and Develop reseller and a PaperCut partner, and we understand how school procurement, budgets and term dates work.
- Free print audit across every classroom, office and staffroom
- Procurement support for DfE frameworks and tenders
- Secure release, pupil quotas and department reporting
- Installation planned around holidays and term dates
Where managed print makes the biggest difference in a school
Every school has the same handful of print pressure points. We have written a guide for each of them.
Procurement and tenders
Buying print the way the DfE expects, with a compliant process, a clear specification and a tender you can defend to governors and auditors.
How schools procure managed printBudgets and cost control
Turning an unpredictable pile of toner invoices and repair bills into one line in the budget, with reporting by department so you can see where the volume goes.
How managed print controls school budgetsPrint security and GDPR
Keeping pupil records, safeguarding notes and staff data off the output tray and off the hard drive of a device that leaves the building.
Why print security matters in schoolsMulti academy trusts
One standard, one contract and one set of reports across every school in the trust, with a fleet that grows as new schools join.
Managed print for multi academy trustsTeaching and learning
Print that serves the classroom rather than getting in its way, including large print and accessible resources for SEND pupils and less waste without fewer resources.
How managed print supports teachingExams, peaks and term time
Secure printing of exam and assessment materials, and a fleet that copes with September, mock season and the last fortnight of term without falling over.
Secure printing of exam materialsProcurement that governors and auditors will sign off
School business managers do not get to buy print the way a private company does. Thresholds, frameworks, comparable quotes and a paper trail all matter, and a supplier who understands that saves you weeks. We work within DfE buying guidance and the recognised frameworks, we can respond to a formal tender and we will help you write a specification that compares like with like rather than one that quietly favours a particular brand.
If you are not sure what to ask for, our tender checklist sets out the questions that separate a good managed print agreement from an expensive one, from meter reading terms and minimum volumes to what happens to the devices and the data when the contract ends.
The best print contract a school can have is the one nobody in the office has to think about between September and July.
What managed print costs a school and what it replaces
The honest answer is that it usually costs less than what you are spending now, because most of what you are spending now is invisible. Everything below is covered by one monthly figure.
| Included | What it replaces | What it means for the school |
|---|---|---|
| Fujifilm and Develop devices | A mix of ageing copiers and desktop printers bought at different times | Fewer, newer, faster devices placed where teachers actually are |
| PaperCut secure release and quotas | Uncollected print, pupil misuse and no idea who printed what | Card release, pupil quotas and reporting by department |
| Automatic consumables | Emergency toner orders and a cupboard full of the wrong cartridges | Toner arrives before it runs out, at contract price |
| Remote monitoring and engineers | Ad hoc call outs and a printer down for a week in exam season | Faults caught early, Bedford based engineers when needed |
| Reporting | Guesswork at budget setting time | Volumes and costs by site and department for governors and the trust |
| Secure disposal | Old devices leaving with pupil data on the hard drive | Certified wiping and recycling with paperwork for your records |
Standard scope of a CopyBox managed print agreement for schools
Find out what your school is really spending on print
We visit during the school day, count every device, take the meter readings and look at how staff and pupils actually print. You get a clear picture of cost, waste and risk, plus a proposal you can take to governors, with no obligation.
- Trusted by schools. Five star reviews from primaries and secondaries across the region.
- Holiday installs. Delivery and setup planned around term dates so teaching is never disrupted.
- Family run since 2017. Built on more than 30 years of industry experience.
- A tree per printer. Planted at the Forest of Marston Vale for every device we supply.
Print security, GDPR and safeguarding
A school printer handles some of the most sensitive documents in the building. Pupil records, safeguarding referrals, SEND plans, staff HR paperwork and exam papers all pass through it, often on a shared device in a corridor or a staffroom. Left unmanaged, that is a GDPR exposure and a safeguarding one.
Secure release holds every job until the member of staff taps their card at the device, so nothing is left on the tray for a pupil or a visitor to pick up. Print logs show who printed what and when. Encrypted storage and certified data wiping mean an old copier never leaves the school with years of documents still on its hard drive. Exam and assessment materials can be restricted to named staff and specific devices.
How it works, from audit to the first day of term
Four stages, planned around the school calendar. Most schools go live over a holiday so nobody notices the changeover except that the printers work.
Audit
We visit during a normal school day, map every device, its volumes and who uses it, and look at how print flows between classrooms, offices and the reprographics room.
Design and procure
A right sized fleet with secure release and quotas specified, priced as one monthly figure and presented in a form governors and the trust can approve.
Install
Devices delivered, connected and configured with your IT provider, staff cards enrolled and old devices removed and wiped, all before the first day back.
Support and review
Remote monitoring, automatic toner and engineer visits when needed, with termly reporting so budget setting is based on real numbers.
Managed print for multi academy trusts
A trust inherits a different print setup with every school that joins. Different brands, different contracts, different end dates and no way to compare cost per site. Managed print is how a trust turns that into one standard.
We consolidate onto common devices and a single agreement, roll secure release and reporting out across every site and give the central team one view of volumes and cost by school. When a new school joins, it comes onto the same terms without a fresh procurement exercise, and when the trust grows the fleet grows with it.
Print that supports the classroom, cuts waste and copes with the peaks
Managed print is often sold to schools as an admin saving. The bigger win is in the classroom. Teachers get reliable devices close to where they teach, large print and accessible resources for SEND pupils come off the same machines without a special order, and pupil print quotas stop the waste without stopping the learning.
Because the fleet is sized for the busy weeks rather than the average, it copes with September, mock exams and the end of term without queues at the one machine that still works. And with fewer, more efficient devices, secure release removing uncollected jobs and scanning replacing photocopying where it makes sense, most schools cut their paper use noticeably in the first year.
Classroom and sustainability guides
Managed print for schools, common questions
Can we buy through a DfE approved framework?
Yes. We work within DfE buying guidance and the recognised frameworks and can also respond to a formal tender. If you are unsure which route applies to your value threshold, we will talk it through with your business manager before anything is priced.
Will the installation disrupt teaching?
No. Installation is planned for a holiday or an INSET day wherever possible. Devices are delivered, connected and tested and old machines removed before staff return, so the first day of term starts with working printers.
Can pupils be given print quotas?
Yes. PaperCut lets you set quotas by pupil, year group or department, so sixth form printing can be allowed while lower school printing is controlled, and every job is logged so waste is visible.
How do you keep exam papers secure?
Exam and assessment materials can be restricted to named staff and specific devices, released only when that person is at the machine and logged in the audit trail. Nothing is printed unattended and nothing sits on a tray.
What happens to pupil data on the old copiers?
Every device we remove has its hard drive wiped to a certified standard and is recycled responsibly. You receive confirmation for your GDPR records so you can show that data left with the device.
Does one agreement cover every school in our trust?
Yes. A trust can consolidate all sites onto one agreement with shared devices, one set of reporting and common terms, and new schools joining the trust come onto the same agreement without a fresh procurement.
Browse the Managed Print Services for Schools Guidance
Plain answers on procurement, frameworks, cost, GDPR, exam security, multi academy trusts, SEND resources and term time demand, written for school business managers, trust leaders and heads.
Read the Schools guidance