PAT Testing for Schools: What's Required and How to Manage It

Schools are among the most PAT-testing-intensive environments in the UK. Hundreds of portable appliances — projectors, laptops, lab equipment, kitchen appliances, design technology tools — used daily by staff and students. Most local education authorities (LEAs) and multi-academy trusts (MATs) mandate PAT testing as part of their health and safety policies, often with stricter requirements than the baseline legal obligations.

Equipment volumes are high. Budgets are tight. The duty of care extends to children. And the inventory shifts constantly — new purchases mid-year, equipment moved between classrooms, personal appliances brought in by staff. This guide covers the legal position, what needs testing, recommended frequencies, and how to manage the process practically.

Legal position for schools

There is no specific "school PAT testing law." Schools are subject to the same electrical safety regulations as any other workplace.

Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 — Regulation 4(2) requires all electrical systems (including portable appliances) to be maintained so as to prevent danger. This applies to schools as workplaces.

Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 — Section 2 places a duty on employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of employees. Section 3 extends a similar duty towards non-employees — which, in a school context, means pupils and visitors.

Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 — Require employers to carry out suitable and sufficient risk assessments. Electrical safety, including the condition of portable appliances, should be part of the school's risk assessment.

Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) — Require work equipment to be maintained in an efficient state. If a maintenance log is kept, it must be kept up to date.

The employer in a maintained school is typically the LEA or the governing body. In an academy, it's the academy trust. The employer carries the legal duties, but day-to-day responsibility usually falls to the headteacher and the site manager or facilities team.

Beyond the baseline legislation, LEAs and MATs almost always impose their own PAT testing policies that go further than the legal minimum. Check your LEA or trust policy before setting your own intervals — non-compliance can trigger governance issues even if you technically meet the legal standard.

The duty of care towards children adds weight. An electrical incident involving a pupil where PAT testing records are absent or out of date would be very difficult to defend.

For more detail on the legal framework, see our guide on whether PAT testing is legally required.

What needs testing in a school

Schools have a wider variety of portable electrical equipment than most workplaces. The scope of PAT testing in a school typically includes:

Classrooms — projectors, interactive whiteboards, desktop PCs, monitors, printers, document cameras, laminating machines, laptop trolleys (including charging units and individual laptops)
Staff rooms and offices — kettles, microwaves, toasters, refrigerators, coffee machines, desk fans, personal heaters, photocopiers, shredders
Science laboratories — power supplies, oscilloscopes, illuminated microscopes, heating mantles, centrifuges, water baths, mains-powered demonstration equipment. Labs present particular challenges: equipment is used by students, is often old, and may be exposed to chemicals and moisture
Design and technology — pillar drills, lathes, sanders, soldering irons, hot glue guns, sewing machines, 3D printers, laser cutters, portable power tools. DT equipment is high-risk: handheld, frequently used, subject to vibration and dust
ICT suites — PCs, monitors, printers, scanners, tablet/Chromebook charging stations
Music — amplifiers, PA systems, keyboard instruments, recording and mixing equipment
Kitchen — ovens, microwaves, food processors, blenders, dishwashers, hot cupboards, heated trolleys
Sports — timing equipment, electronic scoreboards, portable speakers
Personal equipment brought by staff — laptop chargers, phone chargers, desk fans, personal heaters, radios, desk lamps. A category many schools overlook. More on this below

For a broader overview, see our guide on what needs PAT testing.

Recommended frequencies for schools

The IET Code of Practice categorises schools under educational establishments. The recommended initial intervals are generally tighter than office environments because equipment is used by multiple people — including children — and may be subject to rougher handling.

Stationary and IT equipment (PCs, printers, projectors, interactive whiteboards):

User check: Not required
Formal visual inspection: 24 months
Combined inspection and testing: 48 months

Movable and portable equipment (kettles, fans, heaters, laminators):

User check: Not required
Formal visual inspection: 12 months
Combined inspection and testing: 24 months

Handheld equipment and equipment used by students (soldering irons, power tools, lab equipment, portable speakers):

User check: Daily/before each use
Formal visual inspection: 6 months
Combined inspection and testing: 12 months

Extension leads and cable reels:

User check: Before each use
Formal visual inspection: 12 months
Combined inspection and testing: 24 months (or 12 months if used in DT workshops or science labs)

Science lab and DT workshop equipment should generally be treated as high-use environments. The IET Code of Practice guidance for industrial environments may be more appropriate than the standard educational establishment intervals — particularly for equipment that students handle directly.

Many LEAs and academy trusts simplify this to "annual PAT testing for everything portable." That's a defensible policy — it's more conservative than the IET Code of Practice minimum for most equipment types, it's easy to communicate and administer, and it errs on the side of caution in an environment with children. The downside is cost: testing 800 appliances annually when half of them only need testing every 24 or 48 months is money spent without proportionate safety benefit.

The better approach is to categorise your equipment, apply the IET Code of Practice intervals, and adjust based on your own failure data. Use our PAT testing frequency guide for the full IET Code of Practice tables, and the PAT testing frequency calculator to generate a schedule tailored to your equipment.

Managing PAT testing in a school

A typical primary school has 300-500 portable appliances. A large secondary school can easily exceed 1,000. Managing PAT testing at this scale requires a system, not just a testing visit.

Who does the testing

Schools have three main options.

Outsource to a contractor. The most common approach. A contractor visits during a holiday period and tests all equipment in scope. Cost typically falls between 80p and 2.50 per item. For a school with 600 items, expect 480-1,500 per visit.

Train the site manager or caretaker. A one-day PAT testing course (150-300) plus a PAT tester (300-800) gives the school flexibility to test new equipment immediately and manage the schedule in-house. The IET Code of Practice confirms that formal electrical qualifications are not required — competence through training is sufficient.

Combination approach. The site manager handles straightforward equipment (IT, office, classroom). A contractor handles specialist equipment — science lab instruments, DT workshop tools, commercial kitchen appliances. This balances cost and competence.

For more on who is qualified to carry out PAT testing, see our guide on who can do PAT testing. For cost breakdowns, see PAT testing costs explained.

Building an appliance register

Before you can test, you need to know what you have. Walk every room. Record every portable electrical appliance. Assign each a unique identification number. Record the description, location, and class (Class I or Class II). This initial audit takes a day or more for a large secondary school, but it only needs doing thoroughly once.

A spreadsheet works for small schools. Above 200 appliances, dedicated software or an online register is significantly more practical. Use our PAT register template generator to create a starting template, and see our comparison of PAT register templates vs software.

Record-keeping for schools

Schools face particular scrutiny on record-keeping. Ofsted inspections can include review of health and safety documentation, and LEA or MAT audits frequently check PAT testing records.

Records should be centrally maintained — not in individual classrooms. The site manager or facilities team should hold a single register covering all equipment. Each record should include the appliance ID, description, location, test date, tester identity, tests performed, results (actual values), pass/fail outcome, and next test due date. If an appliance fails, record what action was taken.

Retain records for at least the last two test cycles. Records should be producible on request — for an HSE investigation, insurance claim, or routine audit. "The contractor has them" is not adequate if you can't access them promptly.

For detailed guidance, see our guides on PAT testing records and common PAT testing record mistakes.

Common challenges in schools

Equipment moves between rooms and buildings

A laptop trolley tested in Room 12 is now in Room 24. A projector that was wall-mounted in the hall is now portable and shared between three classrooms. A science department power supply spends time in three different labs.

If equipment moves, the register must be updated. Location data matters — for finding equipment when it's due for testing and for demonstrating proper management to auditors. If location changes are frequent, consider labelling equipment with its "home" location and requiring it to be returned there.

Summer holiday testing windows

Most schools schedule PAT testing during the summer holiday because equipment is available, rooms are accessible, and there's no disruption to teaching. This works well operationally but creates a problem: everything is tested at the same time, so everything comes due at the same time the following year.

Consider staggering testing across holiday periods. Test classroom equipment during summer, DT and science equipment during half-term, and kitchen equipment during Easter. This spreads the cost and the workload.

Budget constraints

PAT testing competes with every other call on the school's maintenance budget. The temptation is to defer or informally extend intervals to save money. This is a false economy. The cost of annual PAT testing for a large school is a fraction of the cost of a personal injury claim from a pupil combined with an HSE investigation. In-house testing by a trained site manager is the most cost-effective approach — the initial investment in training and equipment is recovered within one or two years.

New equipment purchased mid-year

Equipment purchased mid-year needs adding to the register immediately. The IET Code of Practice confirms that new equipment from a reputable supplier doesn't need full electrical testing before first use, but a visual inspection is recommended. Add the appliance to the register with a "next test due" date aligned with the appropriate interval. Don't wait until the next annual testing visit.

Staff turnover and knowledge loss

The site manager who understood the PAT testing system retires. The new person inherits a spreadsheet with no context. This is an argument for systematic record-keeping. The register should be self-explanatory. An online register with automatic reminders is resilient to staff changes in a way that one person's knowledge is not.

Personal appliances brought by staff

Staff regularly bring personal electrical equipment into school: phone chargers, laptop chargers, desk fans, personal heaters, radios, desk lamps. Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, the school has a duty to ensure the safety of all electrical equipment used on its premises — not just equipment it owns.

Schools generally take one of three approaches.

Ban personal electrical equipment. The simplest policy. Eliminates the risk and the administrative burden.

Require all personal appliances to be PAT tested. Staff may bring personal equipment, but it must be included in the school's PAT testing regime. Compliance can be patchy unless actively enforced.

PAT test personal appliances and provide alternatives. The school tests any personal equipment brought in, but also provides PAT-tested alternatives (kettles, fans, phone charging stations) to reduce the number of personal items. This is the most common approach.

Whichever policy you choose, put it in writing. Include it in the staff handbook. Communicate it at induction and at the start of each academic year. The worst position is having no policy — personal appliances in use throughout the school, untested, unregistered, and unmanaged.

Getting started

If your school lacks a structured PAT testing programme: check your LEA or trust policy first, carry out a full appliance audit, assign unique IDs, categorise equipment by type and environment, set intervals per the IET Code of Practice, decide who will test, and establish a central register. Set a written policy for personal appliances. After each testing cycle, review failure data and adjust intervals.

Use our PAT compliance checker to assess your current position, and the PAT register template generator to create a register structure.

PATvault is built for exactly this situation — managing a large appliance register with automatic retest reminders, location tracking, and audit-ready exports.

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