Analysis / Understand your options
What the research tells us about the support schools need
School and business research points towards clearer comparisons, stronger specifications and visible fees. It supports better questions rather than a universal promise about brokers or savings.
Confidence varies with the buyer's role and setting
DfE's 2023 survey received 1,168 responses from financial leads, a 29% response rate, and used stratification and weighting. Reported energy procurement confidence was 42% among LA primary respondents, 50% among LA secondary respondents, 64% among single-academy trust (SAT) primary respondents, 78% among SAT secondary respondents and 69% among multi-academy trust (MAT) respondents. Corresponding bases were 277, 139, 127, 199 and 396.
These are perceived-confidence measures, not tests of buying competence. Some respondents were not involved in energy purchasing; special schools, nurseries and alternative provision were excluded from the sampling design. The findings cannot measure every current school leader's needs. They do support offering readers several levels of explanation.
Start with the decision you need to make
Choose the task in front of you: establishing the lawful route, preparing the school’s information, comparing a proposal or resolving a contract problem. You do not need to master every market term before beginning. You do need to identify the buyer, the decision owner and what must be established before the next commitment.
Distinguish legal requirements from official recommendations and the practical tools offered here. Ask an adviser which applies when a checklist item is unclear. An experienced procurement lead may move quickly to the comparison; a first-time buyer can work through the definitions and examples. Both should finish with a record of the reasons for the decision.
Specialist input has a purpose that can be specified
DfE's November 2024 qualitative study involved 103 professionals from 24 MATs across 73 interview sessions; 12 interviews addressed procurement. Participants described consultant support for large energy tenders and perceived benefits in technical specifications, time and error reduction. They also valued framework convenience. Recruitment considered successful trusts, so this is an account of practices and perceptions rather than a representative demonstration that consultants outperform other routes.
The practical lesson is to commission outputs. Instead of asking only for access to prices, specify the data checks, competition documents, comparison, mobilisation and subsequent reporting the school needs. Ask which tasks require separate legal, procurement or engineering expertise. Record who will perform them and who remains accountable for the school's decision.
Fee visibility deserves a worked example
Ofgem's 2025 research used 1,002 GB business telephone interviews and 30 follow-up interviews. Thirty-five per cent reported broker use; 72% of users were satisfied, with a raw satisfaction base of 444. Yet 63% of broker users thought they were not charged and 13% did not know. These are business findings, not school statistics or evidence that supplier-paid remuneration is costless.
A fee explainer should therefore show the payment route and total commitment in pounds. As an illustrative calculation, an uplift of 0.5p per kWh on 300,000 kWh a year equals £1,500 annually, or £4,500 over three years at unchanged consumption. Show whether that amount is already embedded in the quoted rate, what service it purchases and how a change in usage changes remuneration.
Show what is observed and what remains uncertain
| Evidence | What it can support | What it cannot establish |
|---|---|---|
| A respondent's account | A useful question or reported experience | A universal school outcome |
| A provider case study | An attributed example worth examining | Independently assured savings |
| A school's agreed comparison | A documented purchasing judgement | Future market prices |
| Validated contract-life results | Measured performance within stated boundaries | The same result elsewhere |
Build confidence through a record you control
Keep a school-owned brief, the comparison, unresolved questions and the approval record together. Use the worked examples to understand the calculation, then complete the blank version with your own information. Record where evidence is missing and who will obtain it. A useful next step might be confirming a meter, clarifying a clause or asking for a complete fee statement.
Continue the same checks after procurement. Do invoices match the agreement? Are queries resolved? Are consumption measures delivering an explained result? When reading a case study, look for the comparator, period, fees and verification status. That evidence helps you assess specialist support while remaining free to conclude that another buying route represents better value.