How many primary schools email addresses we hold
The list covers state primary, infant and junior schools, held in two categories: local authority schools and foundation schools. You can take either category on its own or both together. Named contact emails mostly belong to headteachers, school business managers and office managers; in larger schools you will also find deputy heads and leads for special educational needs. Company emails are the school office address that parents, the local authority and suppliers all write to. Schools in the same academy trust or local authority often share an email domain, which matters for how you send (see below).
| Email data | Count |
|---|---|
| Named contact email addresses (a person's own work email) | 14,038 |
| General company email addresses (info@, office@ and similar) | 6,859 |
| Named contacts (with or without an email) | 19,137 |
| Primary schools on our database | 19,729 |
Some businesses have both a named contact email and a company email, so the two figures overlap. Your free count shows exactly how many primary schools you can reach by email for the area and job titles you choose.
Add other schools and early years settings
These education categories are kept separately, so you can add the ones your offer suits:
| Category | Named contact emails | Company emails | Businesses on file |
|---|---|---|---|
| Special schools | 916 | 600 | 1,401 |
| Independent schools | 1,092 | 723 | 1,684 |
| Nursery schools | 3,997 | 1,644 | 7,898 |
| Pre-schools | 2,325 | 883 | 5,688 |
| After school clubs and care | 146 | 63 | 404 |
| Education agencies and authorities | 53 | 50 | 145 |
Can you email primary schools? The PECR rules
In the UK, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) treat business email addresses in two ways. Limited companies, LLPs, public bodies and most charities are "corporate subscribers": you can email them without asking first, as long as you say who you are and give an easy way to opt out. Sole traders and ordinary partnerships are treated as individuals: you need their consent before sending marketing emails.
How UK primary schools are set up, and what that means for email
The Office for National Statistics counts 24,150 primary schools workplaces in the UK (UK Business Counts 2026, SIC 85200). Under the email marketing rules (PECR), what matters is the legal form of the business:
| Legal form | UK workplaces | Share | Email marketing rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Limited companies and LLPs | 1,475 | 6% | Email allowed without prior consent, with an opt-out |
| Sole traders | 160 | 1% | Prior consent needed before emailing |
| Partnerships | 40 | under 1% | Prior consent needed before emailing |
| Charities, clubs and other non-profits | 1,165 | 5% | Email allowed without prior consent, with an opt-out |
| Public sector | 21,310 | 88% | Email allowed without prior consent, with an opt-out |
Primary schools give you about as clean a list as you will find. ONS puts almost nine in ten primary education workplaces in the public sector, and nearly all the rest are companies or non-profits. Academies are run by academy trusts, which are charitable companies, so they are corporate subscribers just like maintained schools. Only 200 of the 24,150 workplaces are sole traders or partnerships, and those are typically small privately run schools rather than the state primaries on this list. In practice you can email the whole list without prior consent, provided every email says who you are and has a simple opt-out.
A practical tip: where schools belong to a multi-academy trust, bigger contracts (catering, IT, cleaning, insurance, software used across the trust) are often bought centrally. Email the individual school about things a head can say yes to alone, such as workshops, trips and classroom resources, and ask who handles trust-wide purchasing rather than pitching a trust contract to one school office. Keep your marketing aimed at staff: never ask for pupil information, and don't send anything intended for parents or children.
More detail, including what UK GDPR adds, is in our guide to buying a business email list.
Who to email at primary schools
In a typical one- or two-form-entry primary, a handful of people cover every budget, and many of them also teach:
| Job title | What they decide | How to approach them |
|---|---|---|
| Headteacher | Anything that affects teaching, staffing, curriculum or the school's reputation; signs off most spending | Usually teaching or in meetings all day, and often reads email after 3.30pm. Say in the first line how it helps pupils or saves staff time. |
| School business manager or bursar | Budgets, contracts, utilities, photocopiers, insurance, catering, premises and IT | The person most likely to answer a supplier. Give clear prices, contract length and what happens at renewal. |
| Deputy or assistant headteacher | Staff training, assessment, behaviour and curriculum resources | Often leads a specific area. A short, practical email tied to that area works better than a general brochure. |
| SENCo (special educational needs coordinator) | Specialist resources, assessments, outside therapy and training for support staff | Many SENCos also teach and work part-time on the role. Be specific about the needs you support and the cost per pupil or per session. |
| PE lead or curriculum subject lead | Sports coaching, equipment, clubs (PE); topic workshops, visitors and resources (other subjects) | Primary teachers lead subjects alongside full-time teaching. Make booking easy: dates, year groups, price, and what the school needs to provide. |
| School office manager or administrator | Office supplies, parent communication systems, uniforms, photographers and lettings | Reads the office inbox and decides what reaches the head. A polite, clearly labelled email gets passed on. |
What the generic inbox reaches
The school office address is checked many times a day, because absences, parent messages and local authority updates all arrive there. It is read by the office team, who filter firmly and forward only what looks relevant. Put the intended reader in the subject line or first line (for example "For the PE lead") and keep the message short enough to forward without editing. Small schools without a business manager rely on this inbox more than most.
What a record looks like
This is a made-up example showing the fields you get. Ask for a free sample and we'll send you real records for the area you cover.
| Business name | Example Primary School (made-up example) |
| Contact name | Helen Marsh |
| Job title | School Business Manager |
| Named contact email | [email protected] |
| Company email | [email protected] |
| Town and postcode | Leeds, LS6 |
| Telephone | 0113 496 0000 |
| Website | www.example.co.uk |
| Category | Primary and Junior Schools (Local Authority) |
| Employee size band | 21 to 49 |
Email subject lines that work for primary schools
Examples to adapt. Each is written for how primary schools actually work; keep yours short, specific and honest about what's inside.
- PE and sport premium: after-school coaching for [School name]Names a budget primary schools already have and a specific use for it.
- A Roman day workshop for your Key Stage 2 classesConcrete, curriculum-linked and easy for a subject lead to picture in their timetable.
- PPA cover from September, booked before the summerPlanning cover for teachers' planning time is a recurring headache; timing it for summer planning helps.
- Twilight SEND training for your teaching assistantsAfter-school training fits how primary staff learn, and support staff training is a common gap.
- Your photocopier lease: a quote before you set the budgetSpeaks to the business manager's job at the point in the year when costs are reviewed.
- Calm, low-cost revision support for Year 6 this springAcknowledges the pressure around Year 6 assessments without adding to it.
When to email primary schools
Schools run to a fixed calendar, and the same email can be welcome in one week and ignored in the next. Term dates are set by each local authority or academy trust, so check them for the area you are mailing.
- The school day: teachers, including most heads and SENCos, are with classes from about 8.45am to 3.15pm. Office staff and business managers read email in the morning; teaching staff tend to catch up after school, from about 3.30pm. Sending early in the morning or mid-afternoon puts you near the top when they open their inbox.
- Good times: late September to mid-October, once the new year has settled; January after the first week; and late February to March, when schools plan the following year and maintained schools set budgets for April. June is useful for booking anything for September.
- Avoid: the first two weeks of September, the week of Key Stage 2 tests in May (and the weeks just before it for anything aimed at Year 6 teachers), the last fortnight of the summer term, and December, which fills with nativity plays, parties and reports.
- Holidays: emails sent during half terms and holidays usually wait until the first day back, when they compete with everything else. Send on the second or third day of term instead. Business managers and some heads do work in the summer holiday, so a short, well-timed email in August can work for budget and premises offers.
- Scotland and Northern Ireland break up for summer earlier than England and Wales, so stagger campaigns if you mail the whole UK.
Getting your emails into the inbox
Many schools' email is run by their local authority, academy trust or an IT support contractor, so hundreds of schools can sit behind the same mail filter. A burst of identical emails to one provider looks like spam and can get you blocked for every school behind it. Spread your sending over several days, mix areas within each send, and avoid attachments and link-heavy newsletters; school filters are set tightly to protect staff and pupils.
The basics apply to every list: send from a properly set-up domain (SPF, DKIM and DMARC), start with small daily volumes, remove bounces straight away and include a one-click unsubscribe. Our deliverability checklist covers each step.
Primary schools email list prices
You pay per record, and the price per record falls as the order grows:
| Number of records | Price per 1,000 |
|---|---|
| Fewer than 2,500 | £295 |
| 2,500 to 4,999 | £270 |
| 5,000 to 9,999 | £245 |
| 10,000 to 19,999 | £220 |
| 20,000 to 49,999 | £195 |
| 50,000 or more | £170 |
Other email lists
Primary schools email list: frequently asked questions
How many primary schools are on the primary schools email list?
We hold 14,038 named contact email addresses and 6,859 school office email addresses, from 19,729 UK primary and junior schools on our database.
Can I take local authority or foundation schools on their own?
Yes. Local authority primary and junior schools make up 15,066 schools with 10,681 named contact emails; foundation primary and junior schools make up 4,663 schools with 3,357 named contact emails.
Do I need consent to email schools?
No prior consent is needed for state schools and academies, because they are corporate subscribers under PECR. Every email must still identify you and include a clear way to opt out, and you should remove anyone who does.
Can I email just headteachers, or just school business managers?
Yes, you can select by job title. Ask for a free count and we'll tell you how many named emails we hold for each role in your area.
Is it worth emailing schools in the school holidays?
Mostly not: emails sent in half terms and holidays tend to wait until term starts and then get lost. The exception is the summer holiday for business managers, some of whom work through August on budgets and premises.
How much does an email list of primary schools cost?
You pay per record: £295 per 1,000 for smaller orders, falling to £170 per 1,000 for 50,000 records or more (excluding VAT). Tell us which primary schools you want and we'll send a free count and an exact price.