Plastic Cards for Schools

Which plastic cards does a school need?

Most schools start with one of these, usually library cards or bus passes, and add the others later. Most are 86 x 54mm, the size of a bank card; event passes are a larger 70 x 100mm. All are printed in full colour on both sides.

What does a school library card need?

A library card is scanned at every loan and every return, so the barcode is the part that has to work. Library management systems expect a particular barcode format and number length. Cards can carry Code 39, the most widely used, Code 128 or a QR code. Ask your library system supplier which one it reads before you order.

• Leave room to grow. A four-digit number runs out at 9,999 borrowers, so choose a length that will last.
• Print the number under the barcode in plain figures, so staff can type it in when the scanner won’t read.
• Keep a white box behind the barcode. Scanners read black on white more reliably than black on a colour.
• Carry on with the numbers you have. Give us a start number, or send a spreadsheet of the borrower numbers already in your system.
• Add each pupil’s name and form from the same spreadsheet, so a lost card can be returned to its owner.
• Test it on your own scanner first if you want to: a postal proof (£65 +vat) posts real cards to you before the full run is printed, and adds around 5 working days.

The barcode is printed under the surface of the card with everything else, so it can’t scratch or wear off in a school bag. For younger pupils, a 54 x 29mm key fob card on a bag zip is harder to lose, and a combo card gives a full size card and a snap-off key fob together. The barcode guide has the full specification.

Ashworth Park Academy, in the drawings on this page, is made up. The barcodes are illustrations and won’t scan.

What should a school bus pass show?

A driver checks each pass in a second or two, often through the door on a dark winter morning. The route and the school year have to be readable at a glance, in a colour and a type size that work from a step away.

1. The route number, large enough to read through the bus door.
2. The pupil’s name, year and stop, printed from your spreadsheet.
3. This year’s colour. A new background colour every September makes last year’s passes stand out without anyone reading them.
4. The school name and logo.

If your transport policy asks for a photo, it isn’t printed on the pass. A passport-sized photo is fixed to it with a photoseal, a clear seal that covers one side of the card. The school office can apply them, or we can attach them for you.

Cards for pupils who join during the year

Route lists often aren’t final until late August, and new pupils arrive all year. Our bureau personalisation service deals with both. Your cards are printed in this year’s design and held in stock. You email a spreadsheet of names as places are confirmed, and we personalise just those cards and post them to you.

• No minimum call-off. The first order is the usual 25 cards or more; after that, one card at a time is fine.
• Allow 3 working days for each call-off. Files that reach us before 1pm are usually dispatched the same day.
• One colour, one side. The personalised details are printed in black, white, metallic gold or metallic silver, on one side of the card, so leave a space for them in the design.
• Send the same spreadsheet every time: one clean Excel file, with no hidden cells, in the same layout each time. See our example Excel file.

The same service works for library cards, staff cards and anything else where the names arrive in ones and twos.

Reception and staff: visitor passes, ID and reference cards

A numbered plastic pass, logged against a name in the signing-in book and handed back on the way out, gives the office a list of who is on site. At the end of the day, any number still out is a pass still on site. Most schools use a colour for each type of visitor, so staff can see at a glance who needs an escort.

Each pass carries its own number, and if you sign visitors in on a screen, the number can also be printed as a barcode or QR code. We punch a 15 x 3mm slot for a badge clip or a 5mm hole for a lanyard hook, and we also sell lanyards, so passes and lanyards can arrive in one order. The visitor passes page has more on colour sets and the reverse side.

Staff cards can be printed with each person’s name and role from a spreadsheet, with a photo added by photoseal. Many staff also wear a second card behind their badge: a lanyard reference card with the contacts and extension numbers they need in a hurry. You write the wording and approve it on the proof, and it’s printed exactly as approved. Staff car park permits follow the same pattern: a number on every permit, a new colour each year, and a write-on panel for the registration.

Trips and residentials: emergency contact cards

On a trip, each pupil can carry a card with the trip leader’s mobile number and what to do if they get separated from the group. There are two ways to do it.

Medical details are special category data under UK GDPR, which needs a specific lawful basis and extra care: the ICO’s guidance on special category data explains the conditions. Many schools leave medical details off, or use the write-on version so nobody has to send pupils’ details to a printer. A 54 x 29mm key fob version clips onto a rucksack zip. See emergency contact cards.

Reward and house point cards

A merit card works like a coffee shop stamp card: a box for each merit, and a reward when the card is full. One design in a different colour for each house costs nothing extra in printing when all the colours are ordered as one job.

• Size the boxes for your stamp. Stamp circles 10 to 12mm across suit most stamps.
• Use the right ink, or a punch. An ordinary ink pad smudges on gloss PVC. A quick-drying ink made for non-porous surfaces stays put once it’s dry, and a hole punch needs no ink at all.
• Or choose board. Plastic-Free Board cards take ordinary pens and ink stamps anywhere on the card.
• Leave the reward itself off if it changes each term. “Full card? Take it to the school office” never goes out of date.

Writing on plastic cards covers pens, stamp inks and write-on panels in more detail.

When to order, and what it costs

Standard production is 7 working days from proof approval and payment, and every order starts with a free photorealistic proof by email. For passes that pupils need on the first day of term, order in July, before the summer holiday. If you’re short of time, an express service of 3 to 4 working days is available: ask us for cost and availability.

Full colour cards start at £75.00 +vat for 25, and the price per card falls as the quantity rises, to 24.5p a card for 1,000. Delivery within Great Britain is included. Barcodes, numbering, write-on panels and photoseals are priced on your quote. Our price guide gives more examples.

Several versions of one design, such as a colour for each house or each year group, cost nothing extra in printing when they’re ordered as one job. Our design service can lay out the cards from your logo for £29 +vat.

Not sure where to start?Email us a list of the cards you’re thinking about and roughly how many pupils and staff you have, and we’ll suggest a set-up with a quote, usually within about 10 minutes, 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.