Create schools where every word is easier to hear

Acoustic panels are not specifically required by law. However, school buildings may need to meet acoustic performance requirements under Building Regulations, with BB93 providing the relevant design guidance. BB93 specifies the performance, not the product, so panels are one way of meeting the reverberation requirement rather than a requirement themselves.

A mid-frequency reverberation time of 0.6 seconds for a new-build primary classroom and 0.8 seconds for a new-build secondary classroom, measured furnished and unoccupied. Refurbishment values are 0.8 and 1.0 seconds respectively. Rooms for pupils with special hearing or communication needs have a much tighter requirement of 0.4 seconds.

Both, at different levels. New build and extensions must meet the full standard. Refurbishment has relaxed reverberation values, 0.8 seconds for primary and 1.0 for secondary, but work that constitutes a material change of use brings the full new-build requirement back into play. Where a project sits on that line is worth confirming with Building Control early.

A typical untreated primary classroom of 8 by 7 metres measures around 1.3 seconds and needs roughly 31 m² of Class A absorption to reach 0.6 seconds, which is about 55 percent of the ceiling area. A secondary classroom targeting 0.8 seconds needs closer to 22 m². Rooms with an existing acoustic ceiling need considerably less.

No. BB93 requires 0.4 seconds averaged across 125 Hz to 4 kHz, with no octave band above 0.6 seconds, and the absorption needed to achieve that in a typical room exceeds the ceiling area. These rooms need wall panels as well as ceiling treatment, and the low-frequency requirement makes them a specification job rather than a standard order.

Not necessarily. Rooms used by pupils with special hearing or communication needs have demanding acoustic criteria, and ceiling treatment alone may not provide sufficient absorption across the required frequency range. The room should be assessed before the treatment arrangement is specified.

In a mainstream classroom the ceiling usually does most of the work, and wall panels top it up where the target is tight or the ceiling is unavailable. In rooms for pupils with hearing or communication needs, both are required. Wall panels in classrooms should be mounted above display height so they do not compete with the wall space teachers use.

Most classroom schemes are installed in school holidays, which is how the majority of schools sequence this work. A single classroom is typically a day or less. Panel systems are mechanically fixed or bonded, with no wet trades and minimal dust, so a room can be back in use immediately. Multi-room programmes are usually phased across a summer break.

Often not, and it depends on the tile. A Class A ceiling across most of the room will usually meet the mainstream classroom target on its own. Lower-performing Class C or D tiles, which are common in older installations, will not. The only way to know is to measure, which is quicker and cheaper than specifying blind.

No. Panels absorb sound within the room. Sound passing through a wall, a folding partition or a corridor door is sound insulation, which BB93 also covers but with a different remedy. Folding partitions between classrooms are a frequent weak point. NOVA Acoustics carries out UKAS-accredited sound insulation testing to identify the actual path before anything is specified.