Set up new premises for education
The UK is a world leader in educational provision and technology, with a global reputation for excellence and quality.
You can find a general picture of UK education, including numbers of schools, pupils, and budgets on the website of BESA (British Educational Supplies Association)
Supplying to schools across the UK
Schools largely manage their own budgets and spending decisions. The UK’s Department for Education advises schools to check if they can get what they need through a framework agreement, before looking for quotes or bids. Framework agreements are a type of contract with agreed terms and conditions for buying goods, works or services for schools. They allow schools to select a supplier from the list and place an order.
Find our more about Framework Agreements on GOV.UK
You can also find more information on Incensu, a national register supporting all types of education suppliers to schools and academies across the UK.
EdTech cluster locations
London and South East England
London serves as a major European educational technology (EdTech) hub, hosting two of the largest industry events in the world – EdTechX and Bett Show.
There are strong links between industry and academia. University College London offers a postgraduate course specialising in EdTech, while the University of Oxford’s Critical Digital Education Research Group specialises in the applications of technology to education.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland has a vibrant cluster of inward investors and locally founded companies. There are over 20 EdTech firms in the region.
The region excels in development of learning content through instruction, video, game-based learning and augmented reality to build future learning platforms.
Manchester and North West England
The home of MediaCityUK, Manchester is a major centre for digital technology. The region hosts many of the most progressive EdTech providers in the UK, such as Frog Education, which has 12 million users worldwide.
Scotland
Education is fully government funded in Scotland. From SQA, Scotland’s single qualifications body, to universities, tech is embedded within everything from examinations to distance learning. There’s also a thriving corporate training market.
EdTech marketplaces
LendED – BESA operate an education technology lending platform letting schools to search, preview and test education technology products before they buy them.
EdTech Impact – an independent, free school-led marketplace that provides a view of which tools are performing well across different school demographics. Suppliers can also have their products listed on the EdTech Impact platform.
Incubators and accelerators
Incubators are business growth programmes that provide physical space for startups, with shared facilities and business support services. They’re often based in science parks.
There are around 400 incubator programmes currently operating in the UK. Most incubators will charge your company fees or rent, but this is often subsidised by a university or public funding.
Accelerators will typically offer your company services through an intensive programme, of 3 to 12 months. There are currently around 300 programmes operating in the UK.
Accelerators tend to be more growth-driven than incubators, as they often offer direct funding in return for equity (typically less than 10%). They’re more appropriate if you’re a startup looking to scale rapidly.
Supports startups across the education sector and offers a 6-month accelerator programme. Participants and corporate backers identify problems in the education sector, build and test prototypes, validate the idea, and form a founding team for the startup.
Based in London, the programme teaches people how to build their business around their vision. Includes access to free and discounted services to help businesses scale.
Based in Sheffield, in North East England, this accelerator is backed by Twinkl, a global educational publisher. It's helping founders to scale and disrupt the EdTech sector.
Find office space
The UK has a competitive market of specialised serviced office companies, professional services companies and virtual office providers, all ensuring costs are kept low for clients.
Virtual offices allow companies to meet any legal obligation to have a registered address in the UK, without paying for a physical office.
You can compare prices for office or other space on commercial property search engines, such as Estates Gazette, and the websites of office advisory services like Instant Offices or Flexi Offices.
Support from local business programmes
The nations and regions of the UK have a network of private-public partnership bodies that look after local economic development. These bodies may be able to support you with finding office space.
England
Local Enterprise Partnership Growth Hubs support businesses across England. Find links on the Growth Hub network listing.
UK nations
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland manage their programmes for business support, funding and finance in their areas.
More information on the programmes’ websites:
Regulations
You can find out more about the regulation of UK education on legislation.gov.uk:
Education Act 2005 (Amended in 2017)
The Act covers inspection of schools, child minders, day care, nursery education and careers services.
Education Act 2002 (Amended in 2014)
This legislation requires education providers to safeguard children and young people from abuse or neglect, and ensure their safety and wellbeing.
The Act has specific guidelines for the safe storage and use of data belonging to people under the age of 18, and data used for educational purposes.