Procurement in schools: Why every school finance leader needs a modern procurement strategy

Procurement in schools covers the end-to-end process of acquiring goods and services from third-party providers, including tendering, sourcing, negotiating, vendor relationship management and more. A school or academy trust must procure everything needed for educational purposes, as well as to account for day-to-day operations.

Procurement is becoming increasingly challenging in schools as funds tighten, compliance requirements increase and additional visibility becomes mandatory. The Schools Financial Value Standard (SFVS) and Academy Trust Handbook place clear emphasis on value for money when making spending decisions, and The Procurement Act 2023 has increased requirements for transparency.

Professionals working in finance and procurement can access free training on the Procurement Act 2023 from the Department for Education (DfE) to ensure they thoroughly understand what it entails.

Good value will look different in schools compared to the private sector, and it will also look different from school to school. It’s important to note that value encompasses more than just cost, and the best deal will not necessarily be the cheapest one.

Schools will need to design a purchasing process that effectively analyses:

• How a supplier can meet the needs of different stakeholders. For example, can one single site maintenance contract support school caretakers with routine repairs, as well as supplying cleaners for classrooms? This can be more efficient and result in long-term cost savings.
• The quality of the services provided. Can a catering supplier provide options for different dietary requirements and ensure high nutritional content for meals? Cheaper options will exist, but may offer less nutritious, lower-quality food.  
• Input needed from school staff. Will internal resources be required, and to what extent? An outsourced payroll service might seem like good value on the surface, but internal finance teams may need to do the heavy lifting in terms of data processing. On the other hand, the service may offer the option of full outsourcing, so it’s important to understand complete terms and provisions.

Guardrails are needed to protect procurement practices and ensure value can be achieved. The National Governance Association outlines the role of governing boards in procurement and walks through the “four Cs”, otherwise known as the principles of best value:

• Challenge: does the school really need the goods or services?
• Compare: how does a similar school or trust procure goods or services?
• Consult: what do stakeholders want?
• Compete: has the marketplace been fully explored?

Practical steps to achieve value throughout the procurement lifecycle

Procurement is not a one-size-fits-all exercise and even when processes run like clockwork, there are often steps that can be taken to make cost savings, improve efficiencies and achieve better value. Here are some practical steps for schools to consider:

• Join forces with other schools. School business professionals can join or create a network with others in a similar position. This can facilitate information sharing and benchmarking, and there is even the option for buying together to achieve better value.
• Review contracts regularly. Existing contracts and supplier lists should be reviewed on a regular basis, generally at least once a year. To achieve a quick win, schools may choose to review their highest value contracts immediately as these are often where the most cost savings are available.
• Involve the right teams at the right times. It’s all too easy for vendor relationships to go unnurtured once a contract has been signed, but active account management could unlock additional benefits and secure ongoing value. Business managers and senior leaders can often play a vital role in procurement, helping finance teams maintain relationships for better outcomes.  
• Update purchasing/accounts payable software. Workflows often look like a series of disparate manual processes, held together loosely by the overarching label of “procurement.” Procurement software brings people and processes together to manage and automate tasks with compliance built in, saving teams time and driving efficiencies.
• Centralise and refine supplier databases. For local authority maintained schools, this can mean having an up-to-date list of suppliers that all relevant staff can access. For multi-academy trusts, information sharing at academy level is important to ensure individual schools are accessing services with the same terms.

Academies should also consider managing procurement centrally to benefit from bulk buying cost efficiencies. 

How automation can make savings during school procurement

Automation in procurement uses technology to perform tasks more efficiently, offering the potential for schools to make cost savings. 
Automation can:

• De-risk procurement processes. Adding clarity and oversight can improve efficiency and help to avoid fines and late payment changes. Reduced risk of human error can prevent potentially costly mistakes, and can help to improve accurate record keeping for future audits.
• Reduce repetitive, duplicative and manual processes. This saves time for finance and accounts teams so they can turn their attention to value-added work.
• Manage and integrate workflows. Automation can bring functions closer together, stripping out unnecessary admin and refining processes. This can have a profound impact on costs — Deloitte’s findings show that more integrated, end-to-end processes that meld finance and procurement functions can result in a 20-40% uplift in realised savings, and a 10-30% improvement in operational efficiency/cost. 

Frameworks are commercial agreements with suppliers that have been pre-approved by the DfE, covering essentials from books and furniture, to catering, facilities and more. They help schools obtain reliable services without having to go through time-consuming tenders, and schools may still be able to run mini competitions to arrive at the best price among suppliers.

Frameworks can be appealing when services are needed quickly and compliance in the open market could pose challenges. They can also offer better value for money if internal resources are limited and schools can’t dedicate them to tendering. However, agreements may contain restrictive terms, so need to be reviewed carefully. They should also be re-reviewed periodically to ensure they still offer overall value. 

When is a tender the more cost-effective procurement option?

Tendering gives schools the benefit of access to the open market. It’s time consuming, but when value for money is front and centre, schools will have more choice, more freedom and the opportunity to negotiate. Schools will often choose a tendering process for higher value contracts where the stakes are high and deliverables matter.

Tendering can still be efficient when approached in the right way. It’s important to define goals and desired outcomes beforehand to help get the best responses and identify the right partners moving forward. Learn more about how to build effective education tenders. 

Finance leaders in schools and trusts face a balancing act between efficiency, compliance and visibility. Effective procurement in schools means managing multiple sites, suppliers and approval chains while staying compliant with strict financial regulations.

Each school operates with its own budget, approvals and suppliers. Multiply that across a trust and the administrative effort quickly grows.

Manual data entry, email-based approvals and spreadsheet tracking make it difficult to maintain accuracy or get a clear picture of spending across all sites. Even the most diligent finance teams can only do so much when the process itself creates friction.

The hidden cost of manual processes in procurement in schools

Every invoice typed in, every approval chased and every duplicate checked represents time lost to administration. Across a MAT or group of maintained schools, that adds up to hours of valuable capacity that could be used more strategically.

The impact is not just on workload but on accuracy and assurance. Errors are harder to spot, audit trails become inconsistent and financial reporting takes longer to prepare. For senior leaders and governors, that creates uncertainty about where the money is going and how effectively it is being managed.

Read more: A guide to building education tenders

The case for automation

Modern procurement tools are not about replacing people; they are about removing unnecessary work and improving procurement in schools across every stage of the purchasing process.

With Access Education Purchasing, routine processes such as invoice capture, coding and approval routing happen automatically. The system validates budgets before a purchase is approved, detects duplicate invoices, and provides an up-to-date picture of spending across every school.

Finance teams save time and gain confidence in their data. Leaders gain the visibility they need to make timely, informed decisions.

Integration that strengthens control in school procurement

Automation is most effective when it is connected.

Access Education Purchasing integrates directly with Access Education Finance, creating a single flow of information from purchase order to payment. This means budgets, approvals and transactions all stay aligned, removing the need for double entry or reconciliation.

It also integrates with over 40 other accounting platforms, including Sage, Xero, QuickBooks, NetSuite and Microsoft Dynamics, so schools can connect to the systems they already use.

The result is stronger financial control, simpler compliance and less time spent managing data between systems, key benefits for modern procurement in schools.

Building trust through transparency

In education, financial accountability matters as much as efficiency.

Automated systems create clear, auditable records of every decision, supporting compliance with DfE and ESFA guidance. They make it easier to demonstrate responsible spending to boards, trustees and local authorities, while helping finance teams identify where savings can be made.

When every transaction is traceable, and every approval is recorded, financial management becomes not only more efficient but more trustworthy.

A better way forward for procurement in schools

For most schools and trusts, the challenge is not lack of effort. It is a lack of time and visibility.

Modern procurement systems provide both. They give finance teams the tools to manage spending effectively, maintain compliance, and reduce the burden of routine administration.

Access Education Purchasing, especially when used alongside Access Education Finance, offers a clear path to that goal. It replaces fragmented processes with a single, transparent system that helps schools spend wisely, report confidently and focus on what matters most: delivering education.

Explore how Access Education Purchasing can help your school or trust take control of procurement in schools.

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