Financing the 1:1 initiative

The 1:1 initiative is a long term vision to provide a mobile device for every student in school.

There are three key decisions to be made:

1) Choose a suitable WiFi infrastructure to support hundreds, potentially over 1000 devices.
2) Choose which devices to provide or recommend.
3) Choose how to finance the initiative.

In the current economic and political climate, more schools are looking for new ways to implement the 1:1 initiative. In particular, it is becoming increasingly common for schools to make a significant investment in the back-end infrastructure and then offer cost effective ways for their parents to contribute towards the mobile devices.

In partnership with Apple Financial Services, Solutions inc. have a finance scheme known as iStudent where schools can provide Apple technologies to parents for a monthly fee. Parents can benefit from our education pricing (normally only available for school purchases) and the scheme also includes insurance cover. At the end of the rental term, the title of equipment is passed on at a nominal fee (currently 2%).

Pricing will vary depending on the scale of your deployment but the following illustrations are based on a minimum commitment of £20,000.00. These monthly payments are calculated over three years (we can provide finance over 2 or 3 years). It is also possible for the school to part fund the scheme in order to reduce the cost burden to some or all parents.

* Prices exclude VAT. Through communication with schools using similar schemes, we understand that schools are not required to charge VAT when charging a monthly fee for the use of equipment. However, Solutions inc. cannot be held responsible for this. It is up to the individual school to establish your own accounting procedure.

Contact your Regional Education Advisor for a tailored quotation: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it