A clearer route through your school’s energy decision

01 / The decision

Turn the pressure into a manageable decision

The renewal email arrives with a rate and a deadline. Behind it sit questions about budgets, authority, contract terms and the energy your school will actually need. Finance colleagues must explain the commitment; premises teams must make it work. Governors or trustees need enough information to challenge the recommendation.

Our coverage begins with the changes taking effect from 1 October. The programme’s four opening features connect pricing and budget pressures, academy accountability, contract type and duration, and the service beyond renewal. Each explains what the issue means for a school and leads to a practical next step. You can move from a headline to a question, then to the guidance and records needed to answer it.

02 / Your setting

Begin with the rules that apply to your school

This is a programme for schools in England. The first step is to establish who is buying, who may approve the commitment and which process applies.

For a maintained school, that means checking the actual local authority financing scheme, delegated powers and existing commitments. An academy trust considering an alternative at renewal needs to understand the DfE-approved baseline and retain evidence supporting equivalent or better value, alongside its procurement and governance obligations. An independent school starts with its company or charity, board authority and relevant legal status. Academy requirements do not automatically apply to an independent school.167

The separate setting routes explain those distinctions in school language. Independent schools also have their own buying pathway, connected to our private-school coverage, with practical questions about boarding, pools, catering, lettings and shared supplies.

For bursars, governors and independent-school teams: open your dedicated buying pathway and follow our Independent Schools & Boarding coverage.

03 / The journey

Follow the decision, one step at a time

Six milestones organise the work: establish your position, prepare your requirement, choose your buying support, assess complete offers, explain and approve the choice, and make the agreement work.

Start where your immediate question sits. If the meter list is incomplete, use the data-book guide. If offers look difficult to compare, work through the comparison guidance. If approval is approaching, use the decision paper and pre-acceptance checks. Guides, editable working records, clearly labelled fictional examples and searchable answers sit alongside the editorial coverage. You do not need to read every resource before making progress.

04 / Buying support

Be clear about the support you are buying

A school may have the capability to buy directly, use an available LA or framework service, or appoint an energy adviser or broker, commonly called a TPI. The programme helps you assess that choice.

If a TPI is appropriate, one appointed adviser can coordinate the exercise against an agreed requirement. Establish its supplier coverage, capability, conflicts, direct fees and supplier-paid remuneration. Define what it may request or negotiate, who controls the information and who alone can accept an agreement. Appointing the adviser and awarding the energy supply contract remain separate decisions. Several quotations do not, by themselves, establish that the school has followed the required process.23

05 / The whole service

Look beyond the rate, then check delivery

A useful comparison examines the complete cost, changing charges, term, volume commitments, flexibility, service and risk. It also asks what happens after the supply begins.

An adviser’s wider offer might include a competent site consultation, bill checking, consumption analysis, practical demand-reduction support and regular service reviews. Specify the outputs, frequency, people responsible and full cost. Check that the provider can deliver them. A site visit should lead to findings and actions; a usage report should help someone decide what to investigate or change.5

For procurement governed by public rules, relevant service quality and whole-life cost can inform the assessment through the appropriate disclosed evaluation method. Claimed benefits need credible assumptions and later checking. Separate tariff effects, billing corrections and reduced consumption, include associated costs and avoid counting a benefit twice. Any operational changes must preserve safe, comfortable learning conditions.45

06 / Evidence at the finish

Finish with a decision you can explain

The programme’s evidence review helps you locate the supporting records, explain the choice and assign unresolved questions to named owners. The authorised school decision remains essential. Completing a checklist cannot certify compliance or approve a purchase.

The practical aim is straightforward: you understand the options, can explain your choice, have the supporting records and know what needs resolving before you commit. The work then continues through transfer, first-invoice checks and agreed reviews, so the service you evaluated becomes the service you manage.