Getting the size and finish right depends on knowing exactly how a specific room, not just a generic classroom, will actually be used.

Primary classrooms generally benefit from rounded, child-safe corners, a lower mounting height suited to smaller students, and durable magnetic performance for the visual aids common at this age group. Secondary subject rooms, particularly mathematics and science, often need a wider board to accommodate longer worked examples, while art and design rooms may prioritise a larger flat display area over pure writing space. A height comfortable for secondary students can be genuinely difficult for younger primary children to use effectively, so mounting height should be checked against the actual age group using the room.

Sharing the subject and typical age group for each room with your supplier during specification, rather than ordering a single standard size across a whole school, results in boards that genuinely suit how each room is used day to day. A supplier who asks for a room-by-room breakdown before quoting is better placed to recommend appropriate sizing than one working from a single generic description covering the whole school.

Schools that specify a single whiteboard size across every room sometimes find themselves revisiting the decision within a few years, once it becomes clear that certain rooms were genuinely underserved by the generic choice. If a room’s subject or age group changes later, such as a room being repurposed, it’s worth revisiting whether the existing board still suits its new use rather than assuming the original specification remains appropriate indefinitely.

Reviewing whiteboard specifications room by room as part of a wider estates review, rather than as a standalone project, allows subject and age-appropriate adjustments to be made alongside other planned changes, and often reveals a workable pattern of two or three tiers rather than needing a fully bespoke size for every room. A short conversation with whoever teaches in a room most often, before finalising its specification, tends to surface practical details a purely administrative sizing exercise would otherwise miss.

Specifying whiteboards across different rooms? Chameleon’s classroom whiteboards can be sized and finished to suit each subject and age group.