Selling to Primary Schools vs Secondary Schools: What Changes?

A primary school and a secondary school may sit only a few streets apart.

From a supplier's perspective, however, they can be very different organisations to sell to.

The person who notices the problem may be different.

The person controlling the budget may be different.

The value of the contract may be different.

The language that makes your offer relevant may be different.

Even the same product can need a different sales approach.

An educational resource sold to a 250-pupil primary school might be presented as something that saves teachers time across the whole school.

The same type of resource sold to a 1,200-pupil secondary school may need to win over a particular department before finance or senior leadership becomes involved.

This does not mean there is one universal “primary sales process” and another universal “secondary sales process”.

Schools vary enormously.

A small standalone primary academy can behave very differently from a large primary school within a multi-academy trust. A secondary academy with central trust procurement may have less local purchasing freedom than an individual maintained school.

But there are useful patterns suppliers should understand.

This guide looks at what usually changes when selling to primary and secondary schools: decision-makers, budgets, messaging, demonstrations, procurement, timing and how to decide which phase is the better market for your offer.

Start with the structural difference

The most obvious difference is size and organisation.

Primary schools generally educate pupils across Reception and Key Stages 1 and 2, while secondary schools normally cover Key Stages 3 and 4 and may also have sixth-form provision.

That affects how schools organise staff and purchasing.

A primary school often has fewer layers

Depending on the school, important purchasing conversations may involve:

• the headteacher;
• deputy headteacher;
• school business manager;
• office or finance manager;
• SENCO;
• curriculum or subject lead.

One person may hold several responsibilities.

A teacher could simultaneously lead English, coordinate reading and hold responsibility for another curriculum area.

Secondary schools are commonly more departmental

You may encounter:

• heads of department;
• faculty leaders;
• assistant and deputy headteachers;
• business or finance teams;
• IT managers;
• estates teams;
• pastoral leaders;
• SEND teams.

This means there can be more routes into a secondary school—but also more people between initial interest and final approval.

School phase is only the first filter

You should also consider:

• school size;
• academy or maintained status;
• MAT membership;
• pupil profile;
• geography;
• budget;
• the specific problem your offer solves.

The AllSchools guide How to Define Your Ideal School Customer explains how to narrow the market beyond simply “primary” or “secondary”.

The likely decision-maker changes

One of the biggest practical differences is who you should contact.

Primary buying can be more centralised within the school

For many whole-school products and services, the headteacher or school business manager may become involved relatively early.

This is particularly likely where the purchase affects:

• the whole school;
• staffing;
• premises;
• IT;
• major expenditure.

For curriculum-specific products, however, a subject leader may still be the better starting point.

Secondary buying often starts closer to the department

If you sell:

• science equipment;
• English resources;
• PE equipment;
• subject-specific CPD;
• departmental software;

the relevant head of department may understand the need much better than the headteacher.

That person may then need approval from:

• a line manager;
• finance;
• senior leadership;
• central trust procurement.

Do not automatically email the headteacher

A common supplier assumption is:

“The headteacher is in charge, so that must be the right contact.”

Authority and relevance are not the same thing.

A headteacher may technically have senior authority but have no interest in evaluating chemistry equipment or a departmental revision platform.

See How to Find the Right Contact at a School and Who Buys Products and Services in UK Schools? for a more detailed breakdown of roles.

Primary schools usually need a stronger whole-school value case

Because many primary schools are smaller organisations, a purchase often needs to make sense across a substantial proportion of the school.

Think in terms of broad usefulness

A primary-school buyer may want to know:

• How many year groups can use this?
• Can different teachers share it?
• Does it reduce workload?
• Can we use it across several subjects?
• Is it simple enough for staff to adopt quickly?

Per-school pricing can feel very different at primary level

Imagine your software costs £5,000 a year.

For a large secondary school with 1,400 pupils, that may represent around £3.57 per pupil.

For a 200-pupil primary school, it represents £25 per pupil.

The invoice is identical.

The economics are not.

Pricing may therefore need to reflect school size

Depending on the product, suppliers sometimes use:

• pupil-number bands;
• phase-based pricing;
• small-school pricing;
• MAT-wide pricing.

That does not mean every primary product needs to be cheap.

A solution addressing an important statutory, staffing or operational problem can justify significant expenditure.

But the value case needs to fit the size of the organisation.

The AllSchools guide How to Price Your Services for Schools covers this issue more broadly.

Secondary schools can support more specialised offers

A large secondary school may contain several relatively distinct internal markets.

A supplier may not need to persuade the entire school that its product is useful.

It may need to solve one department's problem extremely well.

This creates opportunities for specialist suppliers

Examples include:

• science-laboratory suppliers;
• exam-preparation platforms;
• subject-specific textbooks;
• design and technology equipment;
• music technology;
• sports equipment;
• specialist CPD.

The first sale can sometimes be departmental

A supplier might begin with:

“We are working with the maths department.”

and eventually expand into:

“The school now uses the platform across four departments.”

But specialisation can create more internal complexity

Your user may love the product while finance asks whether an existing school-wide system already performs the same function.

IT may need to approve integration.

Data-protection checks may be required.

Senior leadership may ask whether the purchase aligns with school priorities.

Interest is therefore not always the same as authority to buy.

Your marketing message should change by phase

One generic outreach message to “UK schools” will usually underperform compared with messaging that reflects the buyer's environment.

Primary messaging often benefits from simplicity

Strong themes can include:

• easy implementation;
• whole-school use;
• teacher workload;
• limited administration;
• support across several year groups;
• clear value for money.

For example:

“A reading intervention that classroom teachers can run without creating another complicated assessment system.”

Secondary messaging can become more role-specific

You may have separate versions for:

• heads of department;
• IT;
• pastoral leaders;
• SENCOs;
• school business managers.

A department leader may care about pupil outcomes and staff usability.

An IT manager may care about:

• security;
• integration;
• single sign-on;
• technical support.

Finance may focus on cost and contract terms.

Do not merely change the word “primary” to “secondary”

Good positioning reflects a different buying context.

See How to Position Your Product or Service for UK Schools for a fuller framework.

Demonstrations should also look different

If your sales process includes a product demonstration, phase should influence what you show.

For primary schools, show the everyday workflow

Useful questions to answer include:

• How quickly can teachers learn it?
• Can several year groups use it?
• How much preparation does it require?
• What does the teacher actually do during a normal lesson?

For secondary schools, demonstrate the relevant use case first

If you are speaking to a head of science, do not spend fifteen minutes demonstrating features designed mainly for English.

Show:

• their pupils;
• their workflow;
• their subject;
• their problem.

Be prepared for a second audience

A secondary-school demo may start with a department but later need to be repeated or adapted for:

• SLT;
• finance;
• IT;
• trust staff.

The AllSchools guide How to Run a Product Demo for Teachers and School Leaders looks at how to keep demonstrations focused on buying decisions rather than feature tours.

Budget conversations can feel different

There is no simple rule that secondary schools “have money” while primary schools do not.

School funding depends on pupil numbers, pupil characteristics, local funding arrangements and other factors.

For 2026–27, England's school funding arrangements continue to use different pupil rates for primary and secondary-age pupils, reflecting different cost structures across phases.

Secondary schools may have larger overall budgets

They are also generally larger organisations with:

• more pupils;
• more staff;
• specialist facilities;
• larger estates;
• greater equipment requirements.

So a bigger budget does not automatically mean more discretionary money.

Primary schools may scrutinise whole-school purchases closely

A £10,000 service can represent a significant decision for a small primary school.

The supplier may need a particularly clear explanation of:

• why it is needed;
• who will use it;
• what existing cost or workload it reduces;
• why it represents good value.

Departmental budgets can matter in secondary schools

Some purchases may be financed from a department or faculty allocation rather than a single whole-school pot.

However, schools and trusts organise delegated spending differently.

Never assume a department can purchase independently just because the department leader wants the product.

The AllSchools guide Understanding School Budget Cycles explains the wider context.

The procurement process depends more on value and structure than phase

It is tempting to think:

“Primary schools buy informally; secondary schools have procurement departments.”

That is too simplistic.

A small secondary purchase may be straightforward.

A trust-wide primary-school contract may involve a formal buying process.

The important questions are

• What is the total contract value?
• Is the school part of a MAT?
• Who controls the budget?
• What are the school's or trust's procurement rules?
• Is a framework involved?

Current DfE buying guidance tells schools to follow their own procurement rules and identifies frameworks, quotations and formal procurement processes as different buying routes depending on the requirement.

MAT membership may matter more than primary versus secondary

A trust containing twenty primary schools may buy a service centrally.

That opportunity could be significantly larger and more complex than selling to one standalone secondary school.

Conversely, an individual academy may retain considerable purchasing autonomy.

See Maintained Schools, Academies and MATs: What Suppliers Need to Know, MATs vs Individual Schools: Who Should Suppliers Target First? and School Procurement Thresholds: What Small Suppliers Need to Understand.

The sales cycle may change

Suppliers often assume primary schools make quicker decisions because there are fewer people involved.

Sometimes they do.

But the real answer depends on the purchase.

A simple primary purchase can move quickly

If:

• the need is clear;
• the headteacher supports it;
• budget exists;
• procurement requirements are modest;

there may be relatively few internal layers.

A secondary departmental purchase can also move quickly

A department may already have:

• a clear need;
• allocated budget;
• an identified product.

Large secondary purchases often involve more stakeholders

A whole-school platform might need approval from:

• the operational user;
• department or pastoral leadership;
• IT;
• data protection;
• finance;
• SLT;
• trust procurement.

That can extend the sales cycle considerably.

The AllSchools guide How Long Does It Take to Sell to a School? explains why timing varies so much between deals.

Your evidence should match the school you are approaching

A case study is much more persuasive when the prospect recognises itself in the example.

Primary schools want relevant primary evidence

A small primary-school headteacher may look at a case study from a 2,000-pupil secondary academy and think:

“That has very little to do with us.”

Secondary schools may want subject or scale relevance

A secondary buyer may care that:

• the product works across hundreds of users;
• the same department has used it successfully;
• implementation works with a secondary timetable;
• the technology integrates with existing systems.

Build your evidence library by segment

If both phases are important markets, aim eventually to have:

• a primary case study;
• a secondary case study;
• perhaps a MAT example;

This makes future selling much easier.

See How to Get a Case Study or Testimonial From a School and Use It to Win More Work.

Decide whether you should target both phases at all

A larger market is not automatically a better market.

If your offer works particularly well for one phase, concentrating there may produce better results than trying to market to every school in the country.

Primary may be the stronger market if your offer

• works across several curriculum areas;
• is useful to class teachers;
• supports early literacy or numeracy;
• works best with younger pupils;
• has straightforward whole-school implementation.

Secondary may be stronger if your offer

• is highly subject-specific;
• supports GCSEs or post-16 study;
• needs specialist facilities;
• solves a departmental problem;
• benefits from larger pupil numbers.

Some products genuinely suit both

Examples may include:

• IT services;
• staff training;
• safeguarding products;
• attendance tools;
• facilities services;
• school photography;
• some SEND services.

But even then, the positioning may need to change.

Build separate prospect segments

Do not mix every school into one outreach list.

At minimum, consider separating:

• primary;
• secondary;
• special;
• MAT central teams.

Then refine by factors such as school size, location and need.

The AllSchools guides How to Build a School Outreach List That Matches Your Offer and How to Identify Schools With a Genuine Need for Your Offer can help with this process.

A primary vs secondary sales checklist

If you are targeting primary schools, ask

• Does my pricing work for smaller schools?
• Can I explain the whole-school value clearly?
• Is the headteacher, business manager or curriculum lead the better contact?
• Can staff begin using the product without a large implementation project?
• Do I have a relevant primary-school example?

If you are targeting secondary schools, ask

• Which department or function owns the problem?
• Who uses the product and who approves the purchase?
• Does IT or data protection need to be involved?
• Can I demonstrate the specific departmental use case?
• Can the product scale across more users if the initial purchase expands?

For either phase, ask

• Is the school part of a MAT?
• Is the need genuine?
• Who controls the budget?
• What is the likely procurement route?
• Why would the school buy now?

Frequently asked questions

Is it easier to sell to primary schools or secondary schools?

Neither is universally easier. Primary schools may have fewer decision-making layers but smaller budgets and stronger whole-school value requirements. Secondary schools may have larger opportunities but more specialist stakeholders and approval steps.

Who should suppliers contact at a primary school?

It depends on what you sell. Whole-school operational products may be relevant to the headteacher or school business manager, while curriculum products may be better directed to the appropriate subject or curriculum lead.

Who should suppliers contact at a secondary school?

Subject-specific offers often belong with a head of department or faculty leader. Whole-school services may sit with IT, finance, pastoral leadership, SLT, estates or another specialist team.

Do secondary schools have bigger budgets?

They are commonly larger organisations and therefore often have larger total budgets, but they also have greater staffing, premises and specialist costs. A larger overall budget does not automatically mean more discretionary spending.

Should primary schools pay less for the same software?

That is a commercial decision for the supplier, but school size can significantly change the value calculation. Pupil-based or school-size pricing can make an offer more proportionate where appropriate.

Do primary schools buy more centrally?

Within an individual school, decision-making can be more concentrated because there are fewer specialist departments. However, MAT membership can move purchasing away from the school entirely.

Do secondary departments have their own budgets?

Some do, but the level of delegated spending varies by school and trust. Do not assume a head of department can approve a purchase without finance or senior approval.

Should I send the same sales email to primary and secondary schools?

Usually not. Even if the product is identical, the problem, decision-maker, scale and value case can differ substantially.

Which phase has the longer sales cycle?

Deal complexity matters more than phase alone. A small departmental secondary purchase may be quicker than a trust-wide primary contract, while a large whole-school secondary platform can involve many stakeholders.

Should I target both primary and secondary schools from launch?

Only if you have a clear reason to. A smaller, well-defined initial market is often easier to learn from than attempting to reach every school immediately.

Does MAT membership matter more than school phase?

In some categories, yes. If procurement is centralised, understanding the trust structure can be more important than whether an individual academy is primary or secondary.

Do I need separate case studies?

Ideally, yes if both phases are important markets. Buyers are more likely to see themselves in evidence from a similar school.

Can the same product be positioned differently to primary and secondary schools?

Yes. This is often the best approach. The underlying product may stay the same while the benefits, examples, pricing and buying conversation change.

Selling to primary schools and secondary schools is not simply the same process with different pupil ages.

Primary schools often require you to show how the offer works across a smaller organisation where staff wear several hats and every substantial purchase needs a strong whole-school value case.

Secondary schools can create more specialised opportunities through departments and professional functions, but that can also mean more stakeholders and a longer path from interest to approval.

Neither market is inherently better.

The question is where your offer fits best.

Identify who experiences the problem.

Understand who controls the money.

Adjust the message to the phase.

Use evidence from similar schools.

And never assume that two schools should receive the same sales approach simply because both appear in the same education database.

A supplier who understands the difference between a 200-pupil primary school and a 1,200-pupil secondary school will usually sound far more credible than one who simply writes:

“Dear Headteacher, we work with schools across the UK...”