How to bid school and education cleaning contracts
Education contracts are long, stable and heavily specified. Here is how to bid one without wrecking your summer margin.
Understand the buying process before you price
Schools, academy trusts and districts buy through a formal tender or framework far more often than a walkthrough handshake. Expect a written specification, a pricing schedule, a method statement and safeguarding evidence. The winning bid is rarely the cheapest — it is the one that answers every question in the format the evaluator scores.
Production rates and term-time reality
Classrooms clean at roughly 2,800-3,400 sq ft per hour, corridors and halls far faster, and washrooms far slower. The bigger variable is the calendar: 190 teaching days plus deep-clean weeks in holidays. Price the annual hours, then divide by twelve so cash flow stays level rather than collapsing every August.
Safeguarding, checks and staffing
Every cleaner on site during school hours needs background clearance (DBS in the UK, state background checks in the US), and most specifications require named, consistent staff. Build the cost of checks, induction and a covering supervisor into the bid — a rotating agency crew will lose you the contract at the first inspection.
Structuring the price
Split the submission into core daily cleaning, holiday deep cleans, consumables and reactive or additional hours at a published hourly rate. Evaluators reward clarity, and the separated schedule protects your margin when the school adds a new block or extends the day.
Renewals are where the money is
Education contracts commonly run three years with two-year extensions. Deliver a documented cleaning schedule, monthly audit sheet and a single point of contact, and renewal is usually a formality — which makes the acquisition cost of the first win extremely cheap over the life of the account.
FAQs
How long do school cleaning contracts run?+
Typically three years with optional one or two-year extensions, tendered rather than negotiated.
How do I price holiday periods?+
Quote deep cleans as separate line items and spread the annual total across twelve equal monthly invoices.
What checks do school cleaners need?+
Enhanced background clearance, right-to-work verification, induction records and a named supervisor list.
What margin is realistic on education work?+
35-45% gross. Lower than medical, but volumes and contract length make it worth bidding.
Can a small cleaning company win a school contract?+
Yes for single schools and nurseries. Multi-site trusts and districts usually require references at similar scale.