School Cleaning: Benefits & How to Choose The Right Company
Professional cleaning is one of the top requirements of every school, nursery, university and education centre. Establishments in the education sector are often large and have high foot traffic, necessitating the need for constant cleaning.
Maintaining such premises isn’t a straightforward task. It requires planning, operations management and quality assurance that school principals and facilities managers may not have the time to undertake on their own. Their best course of action is to outsource cleaning to commercial cleaning companies.
But what is a school cleaning service, and how can you choose the right cleaning company that manages everything regularly? This article will answer your questions and explain why school cleaning is an essential need for your education centre.
What are School Cleaning Services?
School cleaning is one of the most important commercial cleaning services, designed specifically for premises where children and students present, learn and play.
There are certain differences between general cleaning for commercial & corporate spaces and schools and nurseries. For example, professional school cleaners must have extra attention to detail when cleaning, dispose of waste correctly and use safe, often eco-friendly, cleaning supplies.
This is because the health & safety regulations for schools are far more stringent than other spaces, as schools are home to children and students who may be vulnerable.
Who Provides School Cleaning Services?
Many schools employ in-house cleaners. However, school cleaning is no longer a general cleaning task. It requires training, skills and experience that general cleaners may not possess.
The best way to create a clean and pristine learning environment is to employ commercial cleaning companies. School cleaning is one of the main services a certified cleaning company provides. Commercial cleaning companies closely vet their cleaners, provide professional training and certify them for cleaning schools.
Below are the minimum requirements for certified school cleaners:
- Hold qualifications for modern & sustainable cleaning practices
- Understand Health & Safety, Colour Coding and COSHH regulations
- Understand how to use cleaning equipment and materials
- Understand how to dispose of waste and leftover cleaning chemicals
- Regular background checks (like an Enhanced DBS Check in the UK)
Who Needs School Cleaning Services?
School cleaning services, as the name implies, are a requirement for any premises in the education sector, where children and/or students are present.
This includes:
- Private and public schools
- Day nurseries & early years centres
- Education centres and institutions
- Colleges & Universities
- Academies and after-school clubs
What Areas in Schools Require Cleaning?
The answer to this question is simple. All areas, even if students don’t use it, require regular cleaning. Any typical school have certain areas where students learn and play.
These areas include:
- Courtyard, garden and playground
- Communal areas (entrance, reception, hallway and stairways)
- Classrooms, computer labs, art rooms, music rooms, etc.
- Sports hall, gym and auditorium
- Eating area, cafeteria, toilets and showers
However, some areas are primarily used by teachers and school staff. They also require regular cleaning and sanitation.
These areas include:
- Offices
- Meeting room
- Staff Breakroom
- Teachers room
- Storage
- Basement
How Often Does a School Require Cleaning?
Each country has its own regulations when it comes to cleaning schools and education centres. However, there’s a consistency between them all. Because schools, nurseries and similar environments are considered “no-compromise” premises, they require daily cleaning, usually 5 to 7 days per week, depending on the school’s working days.
However, it doesn’t end there. Most schools, especially post-pandemic, require deep cleaning and disinfection during school holidays. Occasional deep cleaning gives schools an edge to benefit from school cleaning services even more and provide a safer and germ-free learning environment for students.
What are The Benefits of School Cleaning Services?
School cleaning services are on the rise, not because of the cleaning but because of the benefits they have. The primary goal of the school cleaning service is to provide a cleaner learning environment.
However, it has a snowball effect that attracts schools to outsource their cleaning to the right commercial cleaning company. Let’s explore how schools benefit from professional cleaning services.
Cleaner & Safer Learning Environment
The primary goal of school cleaning services, as mentioned above, is to provide a clean and safer learning environment. But why is this a benefit for schools?
A study published in 2013 shows that a clean school positively influences students’ achievement scores and productivity. In other words, students learning in cleaner classrooms tend to achieve higher scores on their exams.
Higher achievements mean a brighter future for the student and a higher rank for the school and teachers.
Stop The Spread of Diseases
Professional school cleaning services go beyond just wiping desks, vacuuming floors and emptying bins. It follows comprehensive cleaning and disinfection plans called a school cleaning checklist.
Checklists help cleaners to thoroughly clean and leave no room for bacteria, viruses and germs that are often accumulated on surfaces. This is crucial because, as students are all in a closed space (like a classroom), the risk of disease spread may increase dramatically.
But the hygiene-centric nature of school cleaning services eliminates the germs, bacteria and viruses from surfaces, preventing the spread of diseases that put students at risk, especially during cold winters.
Saving Time and Budget
Professional school cleaning services are far more efficient and effective compared to traditional in-house school cleaners. They also don’t require training, management and supervision as the commercial cleaning companies handle everything themselves.
This saves head teachers at schools a lot of time and money, which they can invest in providing better learning programmes, holding extra-curricular events and buying modern teaching equipment for the school.
Fewer Complaints from Parents
When parents send their children to school, they expect the school and teachers to take care of their children’s safety as much as they invest in teaching programmes. If they find out the classroom is a mess or the toilets are unhygienic and smelly, they will complain and expect the problem to be taken care of quickly.
Any complaint coming from concerned parents puts a lot of pressure on head teachers and questions the school’s reputation. When schools outsource cleaning to a professional cleaning company, they surprisingly see few to no complaints from parents regarding cleaning and hygiene at school. This leaves them even more time to focus on resolving more important issues.
Disruption-Free Cleaning Service
While traditional in-house cleaners work full-time during school hours, professional school cleaners generally clean when the school is vacant. This is usually later in the evening when the school is closed.
This is called a disruption-free cleaning service, meaning school cleaners won’t disrupt students, teachers and other school staff, for example, when vacuuming floors. This also allows the cleaner to easily and properly clean every area in the school premises.
Cleaning schools after hours also has an added benefit. Every morning, teachers and students enter a clean, pristine and spotless school and classroom, helping them to start the day with more energy and productivity.
How School Cleaning Costs are Calculated?
When schools and universities tender for school cleaning services, the first question they ask is “How did this company calculate the service cost?”. That’s why they often ask for a cost breakdown.
However, as transparent as cost breakdowns are, they still leave room for speculation. Price is the main evaluation metric for schools (often as high as 80%). So, let’s explore the factors that increase or decrease school cleaning service costs.
School’s Location & Size
The school’s location is an important factor. While most commercial cleaning companies don’t charge for commute, if the school is located far from their service area, where they don’t have reliable cleaners, the charge will increase.
Premises size also affects the price because the larger the school, the more cleaners, service hours and cleaning materials it requires, which directly affects the service cost.
Number of Days & Hours
Most schools often require cleaning 5 days per week, with a minimum of 2 hours per day per cleaner. The cost will go up if the school requires more hours or requires cleaning during weekends (Saturday and Sunday).
Note: Commercial cleaning companies charge higher prices for working on weekends because they have to pay weekend cleaners more by law.
Number of Cleaners & Supervisors
Generally, local schools require 2 cleaners, one of whom is a working supervisor. A working supervisor is a cleaner who also manages the service on-site. Cleaning a larger school requires more cleaners and supervisors, which adds to the cost of school cleaning services.
Note: Supervisors, either working or non-working, are often paid more because of their responsibilities.
Additional Requirements
In many cases, schools may require additional cleaning services. For example, deep cleaning during school holidays is an additional cleaning service. Other examples are window cleaning, floor scrubbing or carpet cleaning.
Other additional requirements are the use of specialised cleaning supplies, like eco-friendly ones, or removing gum or cleaning pen marks off tables. School head teachers will ask the contractor to provide this service on demand, either as a one-off or regularly.
One-off services are invoiced separately. However, in cases that the service is regular, like deep cleaning every quarter, the cost will be included in the service price.
Why Should Schools Avoid Cheap Cleaning Services?
School managers and head teachers make their final decision in choosing a commercial cleaning company largely based on the price. However, opting for the cheapest option, especially if the gap is larger than the going rate, is not a wise decision. Avoiding cheap cleaning services helps the school save time and money in the long run.
There are many risks associated with cheap cleaning services. We’re going to explain the most important ones to help you make a better decision when it comes to tendering for school cleaning services.
Low Standard, Inconsistent Service
Schools want high-standard and consistent cleaning services. It’s rare, almost impossible to find a head teacher who asks the contractor to compromise cleaning quality to save costs. But cheap cleaning services have inherited risk of low cleaning standards and inconsistent service due to many factors.
In a case study we conducted at MN Support Services, one of the reasons schools and companies in London had to review their cleaning arrangements, especially those who outsourced their cleaning for the first time, was improper cleaning and inconsistent service. They selected the cheaper option with the hope of saving more budget when investing in cleaning services.
It turned out the cleaning standards were so poor, they had to do most of the work themselves or hire independent cleaners every now and then to properly clean their premises. Service consistency was also questionable. Cleaners often show up late, work less than contractual hours or don’t show up at all. A problem they couldn’t resolve because of poor communication with the contractor: another risk that we will also cover here.
Unreliable, Inexperienced Cleaners
School cleaning companies that offer service at a significantly lower cost often cut costs at the cleaner recruitment and training stages. Instead of employing them permanently, they go with zero-hour contracts or source cleaners from questionable sources. They often don’t run background checks like Enhanced DBS. This is a huge risk in and of itself.
Contractors also don’t provide any specific training to cut costs. They only rely on what cleaners already know about cleaning, which in many cases is none. Low cleaning skills and unclear background together pose a huge threat to schools, nurseries and other education centres.
No Service Monitoring or Quality Audits
Generally, every certified commercial cleaning company has some sort of service monitoring in place to ensure that the cleaning service is done properly. No cleaning service is perfect. That is why contractors send operations managers or appoint on-site supervisors to monitor and adjust the service to match and exceed the client’s expectations.
With cheap cleaning services, there’s no meaningful service monitoring or quality assurance audit. At best, it is left to the school’s head teacher, which defeats the “saving time” benefit of professional school cleaning services. Even if the school agrees to handle audits internally, who should they report to when communication with the contractor is difficult?
Poor Communication
The prominent issue with cheap cleaning services is the poor communication between the client and the cleaning company. Generally, any issues communicated by the client should be resolved within 2 to 3 working days.
However, reports indicate that it takes cleaning companies with cheap service up to 2 weeks to resolve simple issues in the service or make minor adjustments. Clients don’t hear from contractors, and even when they communicate issues directly to the cleaner, there’s no improvement or change.
Difficult Termination Process
One of the red flags when it comes to signing a cleaning contract, regardless of the service costs, is complex contracts with unclear terms of service. This is a trick many commercial cleaning companies leverage to force clients to stay with them longer.
Their terms of service, especially regarding cancellation and termination, are complicated, unclear and “hard-to-get-out-of”. If you don’t understand any term in the cleaning contract, ask the contractor to simplify and amend it to ensure you’re not legally obligated to stay with a poor cleaning service for a long period of time. Generally, service termination should be straightforward.
You should have to right to terminate the contract without any questions by providing a notice, usually 1 – 3 months. If anything else is stated, it’s a red flag!
How to Find The Right School Cleaning Company in London?
Having said the benefits of a professional school cleaning service and the risks of cheap cleaning services, it’s time to find the right school cleaning company.
MN Support Services is a certified school cleaning company in London, but we don’t ask you to choose us right away. Due diligence is always essential. What follows is a list of qualities you should consider when researching a commercial cleaning company.
Understanding what makes a cleaning company good and certified will help you through your due diligence towards making the right decision.
Relevant Experience & References
School cleaning is very different from general cleaning for an office or other commercial premises, as we explained earlier in this post. Therefore, a commercial cleaning company should have relevant experience in providing school cleaning services.
You can ask the company to provide a few references from other schools or education centres to ensure they are providing a good service to other school clients.
School Cleaners’ Skills & Experiences
A cleaning company service won’t be effective and efficient if its cleaners aren’t qualified and experienced. Ask the cleaning company how they recruit their cleaners, what training they provide and whether they run background checks, like Enhanced DBS in the UK.
Generally, commercial cleaning companies hire cleaners on a permanent basis. They TUPE cleaners over (in the UK) when they start working in a new premises. However, in this case, the cleaning contractor still provides training to ensure new cleaners are aware of the company’s standards and workflow.
Also, you can ask the reference they provide whether their cleaners are experienced and know how to properly clean the school’s premises.
Accreditations
There are certain accreditations a commercial cleaning company should have in order to provide cleaning services for schools. The most important ones in the UK are:
- UK Cleaning Industry Authorities (at least one)
- The British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc)
- Cleaning and Support Services Association (CSSA)
- The Domestic Cleaning Alliance
- ISSA
- Alcumus SafeContractor
- Citation H&S and Employment
- QMS ISO (at least one)
- ISO 9001
- ISO 14001
- ISO 45001
- Social Values and Sustainability
On top of accreditations, any cleaning company should have premium insurance that covers employers’ liability, public liability and products liability.
Free Quotes & Cleaning Plan
The process of finding a school cleaning company is to contact a number of companies and ask them for a quote and, potentially, a proposed cleaning plan. A quote allows you to evaluate the cleaning costs and plan your budget accordingly, and a cleaning plan ensures you’ll receive a thorough cleaning service if you decide to go with a particular company.
Since you may need to ask many cleaning contractors for a quote, it is crucial for companies to provide quotes free of charge, even if it involves a site survey. Also, making a decision is a lengthy process. Budget planning, confirmation with the finance manager and several other adjustments and due diligence are involved. Therefore, the quote should be valid for at least 6 months.
After the site survey, the quote you receive should be in the form of a formal proposal. Proposals usually have general information about the cleaning company, how they started, their mission, their social values and more.
However, proposals should have three key sections:
- Service detail
- Cleaning plan or service specifications
- Terms of service or agreement terms
Service details indicate your school address, your contact details (or the contact details of the person in charge of facilities), areas to be cleaned, number of cleaners, their working hours, and the days the cleaning will take place.
Cleaning plan or service specifications, however, show how the cleaners will carry out the cleaning service. This is the section you should pay attention to the most, even more than contract terms. The cleaning plan should include detailed tasks and how they are carried out. It should be bespoke and tailored to your school.
A generic cleaning plan isn’t what you need. The service should be tailored to your school premises and your exact specifications.
Simple & Flexible Contracts
The third section of the proposal is the contact terms or agreement terms. This is also very important as it indicates the legal obligations you and the contractor have towards one another.
Here’s a list of what a contract term should look like:
- Simple and straightforward
- Indicates the responsibilities of all parties clearly
- Has clear termination and/or cancellation terms
- Shows contract length and duration
- Explains payments, compensation in case of damages
If you don’t agree with any of the terms in the contract or anything stated throughout the proposal, you can ask the contractor to amend. If your proposed amendments are logical, the contractor should immediately apply changes and send you a new proposal without asking further questions.
Service Cost
Service cost is also an important part of a cleaning proposal. Generally, contractors only give you a weekly and monthly price, more than enough for you to plan your budget. However, you can also ask the contractor to provide a cost breakdown to better understand the cost.
Generally, service costs should be within a going rate. The going rate may change many times throughout the year, but you can quickly calculate it when you check a few quotes from different contractors.
To avoid the cheap cleaning service trap, remember this rule of thumb: The going rate plus or minus 10% is what you should look for.
Additional Services
Apart from daily cleaning, schools may require other additional services, either cleaning or support services. But when they outsource to a school cleaning company, they shouldn’t worry about finding another contractor for additional or specialised cleaning services. Their contractor should cover this.
Contractor should be a one-stop shop when it comes to cleaning and support services. Check with them and ensure they provide most of the following services before signing a contract:
- Deep cleaning & spring cleaning
- Washroom hygiene services
- Commercial window cleaning (internal & external windows)
- Specialised cleaning for computers, telephones and other equipment
- Commercial laundry services
- Carpet cleaning
- Floor scrubbing
- Feminine hygiene services (sanitary bin collection)
- Air freshener services
Need School Cleaning Services in London?
We are here to help you get your school and classrooms clean, pristine and spotless. Our cleaners are highly trained, Enhanced DBS checked and hold relevant qualifications to handle any cleaning challenges with a professional touch.
Request a free quote today. Our quotes are valid for up to 12 months without any obligations, commitments or hidden fees.
Final Thoughts
The importance of professional school cleaning services cannot be overstated. As schools and nurseries continue to face rising expectations from teachers, students, and parents, maintaining a safe, hygienic and welcoming environment is no longer optional but essential. A properly maintained school not only supports the health and well-being of students and teachers but also contributes significantly to academic performance, staff morale and the school’s reputation.
While some schools still rely on in-house cleaning staff, the evolving standards of hygiene and the complexity of compliance and operational management make outsourcing to a certified school cleaning company a far more effective solution. Experienced school cleaning companies bring with them not only vetted and trained cleaners but also tailored cleaning plans, sustainable practices and a commitment to excellence and quality assurance.
However, schools must exercise due diligence when selecting a cleaning contractor. Opting for the cheapest provider often results in poor service, unreliable cleaners and hidden long-term costs. Instead, they should prioritise value, transparency and proven experience. The right cleaning company will offer flexible, straightforward contracts, detailed cleaning specifications and the ability to meet both general and specialised cleaning needs.
Investing in professional school cleaning is an investment in the educational experience itself. By ensuring a clean and welcoming environment, schools position themselves as establishments that value safety, excellence and the success of their students.
