School exercise books, along with pens or glue sticks, definitely are one of those classroom staples that schools will be stocking up on ahead of a new academic year – and probably topping up throughout the year. With such a vast number of different exercise books typically available from your education supplies provider, finding your way to the right exercise books for your class can turn into a bit of a challenge, yet that final choice can really impact use, performance and cost.
So, what should you take into consideration when preparing to order exercise books for your class? Depending on the age group and ability, topic, durability required or frequency of use, there are key factors you should be looking at.
Does the size of exercise books really matter?
Size quite obviously does matter, although you’ll more often than not choose the hugely popular A4. Because we’re all used to A4 printer paper or notebooks, it’s what we’re comfortable with and certainly works well for most core topics, especially from Key Stage 2 onwards with children producing longer pieces of work which can easily fill an A4 page. A4 school exercise books measure 297x210mm and tend to come in the widest selection of ruling and cover types.
What about other exercise book sizes? A4+ or oversized A4 is – as you may have guessed – slightly larger than A4 and offers the main benefit of allowing to fit an A4 sheet in the book neatly, with no need to trim or fold it. It’s highly practical, which is why sales of A4+ exercise books have been increasing in recent years. The actual size will vary from brand to brand. 9”x7” (approximately 229x178mm) is still a best-seller in primary schools, in particular in Reception and Key Stage 1 classes where they are often favoured for their more compact size – just ideal for smaller hands and shorter pieces of work. They’re also great for older age groups for revision or rough work.
Smaller school exercise books, such as the classic 8”x6.5” size, again are best suited for infants, or for specialist uses including handwriting practice, spellings, homework, note/record writing etc. Books which are going to be taken home on a regular basis probably should also be a smaller size so it’s easy to pop them into even the smallest of school bags along with any reading books, water bottles, snacks or packed lunches, PE kits …
Help, there’s so much choice of school exercise book ruling types!
Yes, all those different rulings can surely be daunting: ruled, squared, plain, half and half, alternating rulings … Unsurprisingly, ruled (lined) paper is the main type teachers choose, as it’s ideal for handwritten work. The space between the lines usually ranges from 6mm to 15mm, and – although 8mm is by some distance the top choice – it means that younger classes can use a wider ruling to start with, moving on to a narrower ruling as their confidence in their handwriting and presentation skills grows. There’s some benefit to having a margin too, as it helps with overall presentation and provides space for teacher or peer-to-peer marking.
Squared paper is always a good choice for maths or science as it lends itself perfectly to chart/graph or geometry work, laying out operations and more, with squares available from 5mm up to 20mm. If the books are going to be used for drawings and illustrations or gluing sheets of paper into, then plain (blank) paper is the one to go for; or you could opt for exercise books with a different ruling for the top half and bottom half of each page, or alternating pages: for instance plain at the top and ruled at the bottom, or a plain page followed by a ruled page and so on, which is just what’s needed for displaying drawings and accompanying text. We shouldn’t forget specialist handwriting practice ruling, with bold and grey lines designed to support younger children with improving their handwriting skills.
What about exercise book cover colour and material?
From blues and greens to red, orange, pink, purple and more, there’s a wide range of cover colours to choose from. Most of the time, schools will have their own subject colour-coding system that will be uniform across all year groups, creating consistency throughout the school and allowing quick and easy identification and retrieval of the right books at the time they are required. It’s good to know that cover colours from different ranges will not necessarily match, so you might want to obtain samples of colour finishes to compare before ordering if you are anxious to ensure that continuity.
Not all school exercise books are equal when it comes to cover material and finish. Even though the covers of most exercise books are made from a heavyweight manila paper that is both hardwearing and more environment-friendly than more refined, bleached paper, the quality and eco credentials of the various ranges available will differ. 225gsm seems to be the standard cover weight adopted by the majority of brands and should be the minimum to aim for if you want your exercise books to last. Always look out for covers with a sustainability certification such as FSC, PEFC or EU Ecolabel, or recycled content.
Standard manila exercise book covers do not have any kind of additional finish, hence their sometimes “raw” appearance, whereas some exercise book ranges feature either laminated covers or glossy varnished covers which offer greater protection against daily wear-and-tear or spills. This could be the solution if you’ve ever felt let down by the quality or look of your books, or need an alternative to separate plastic slip-on covers or sticky book covering film – and the time and cost associated! After all, who wants poor looking exercise books to undermine the quality of their content? Spending that little bit more on your books could have a real positive impact.
Do all exercise books have the same number of pages?
The answer is … no! The number of pages a specific exercise book has will often depend on the size and ruling, and most of the time is either 32, 48, 64 or 80 pages, even though some can have as many as 96 pages or more. Some best-selling exercise books, however, will come in two or more page counts. The determining factors if you do get a choice of number of pages will be how often the books are used (Is it a daily or weekly lesson?) and how long you’d like them to last. Do you prefer a separate book for each term or half term? Does the book need enough pages for a whole academic year? Do the children take an unfinished book with them into the next school year?
You might also want to consider simple, practical aspects … the more pages, the heavier the books and the taller the stacks of books, which may turn out to be an issue when carrying or storing them. The likelihood of the covers and pages suffering damage clearly increases if you pick a higher page count and the books are going to be in use for longer. Finally, the cost of exercise books tends to rise with the number of pages, although greater production volumes mean the highly popular 80 page books offer better value for money.
Is there anything else I should think about when choosing school exercise books?
So, A4 exercise books with 80 pages of 8mm ruled paper with margin in any cover colour you like may overwhelmingly outsell any other type, but it goes to say they’re not right for everybody …
Did you know you could cater for children, young people and even adults who suffer from symptoms of visual stress including dyslexia with tinted paper exercise books? With smaller packs than mainstream, white paper exercise books, you can be fully inclusive and improve learning outcomes for those with special needs.
Have you thought about how your choice of exercise books could support your school’s policies? AFL (Assessment for Learning) books are designed to help schools standardise assessment, with dedicated space on each page for teacher feedback and pupil reflection, plus space for recording targets and progress inside the covers.
You may also decide to explore the endless flexibility of bespoke exercise books. Whether it’s personalising standard, “off the shelf” books with your school name or logo, creating your own inner page ruling and assessment format or designing entirely unique, full colour covers, there’s very little that can’t be achieved. Bespoke school exercise books not only look the part, but they’re also a proven way to improve pupil, staff and parent engagement, and raise standards and attainment.
So you think you’re ready to shop for your school exercise books? Our exercise books couldn’t be easier to navigate, with clear range information and size, ruling, cover colour and page count selection.
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School exercise books, along with pens or glue sticks, definitely are one of those classroom staples that schools will be stocking up on ahead of a new academic year – and probably topping up throughout the year. With such a vast number of different exercise books typically available from your education supplies provider, finding your way to the right exercise books for your class can turn into a bit of a challenge, yet that final choice can really impact use, performance and cost.
So, what should you take into consideration when preparing to order exercise books for your class? Depending on the age group and ability, topic, durability required or frequency of use, there are key factors you should be looking at.
Does the size of exercise books really matter?
Size quite obviously does matter, although you’ll more often than not choose the hugely popular A4. Because we’re all used to A4 printer paper or notebooks, it’s what we’re comfortable with and certainly works well for most core topics, especially from Key Stage 2 onwards with children producing longer pieces of work which can easily fill an A4 page. A4 school exercise books measure 297x210mm and tend to come in the widest selection of ruling and cover types.
What about other exercise book sizes? A4+ or oversized A4 is – as you may have guessed – slightly larger than A4 and offers the main benefit of allowing to fit an A4 sheet in the book neatly, with no need to trim or fold it. It’s highly practical, which is why sales of A4+ exercise books have been increasing in recent years. The actual size will vary from brand to brand. 9”x7” (approximately 229x178mm) is still a best-seller in primary schools, in particular in Reception and Key Stage 1 classes where they are often favoured for their more compact size – just ideal for smaller hands and shorter pieces of work. They’re also great for older age groups for revision or rough work.
Smaller school exercise books, such as the classic 8”x6.5” size, again are best suited for infants, or for specialist uses including handwriting practice, spellings, homework, note/record writing etc. Books which are going to be taken home on a regular basis probably should also be a smaller size so it’s easy to pop them into even the smallest of school bags along with any reading books, water bottles, snacks or packed lunches, PE kits …
Help, there’s so much choice of school exercise book ruling types!
Yes, all those different rulings can surely be daunting: ruled, squared, plain, half and half, alternating rulings … Unsurprisingly, ruled (lined) paper is the main type teachers choose, as it’s ideal for handwritten work. The space between the lines usually ranges from 6mm to 15mm, and – although 8mm is by some distance the top choice – it means that younger classes can use a wider ruling to start with, moving on to a narrower ruling as their confidence in their handwriting and presentation skills grows. There’s some benefit to having a margin too, as it helps with overall presentation and provides space for teacher or peer-to-peer marking.
Squared paper is always a good choice for maths or science as it lends itself perfectly to chart/graph or geometry work, laying out operations and more, with squares available from 5mm up to 20mm. If the books are going to be used for drawings and illustrations or gluing sheets of paper into, then plain (blank) paper is the one to go for; or you could opt for exercise books with a different ruling for the top half and bottom half of each page, or alternating pages: for instance plain at the top and ruled at the bottom, or a plain page followed by a ruled page and so on, which is just what’s needed for displaying drawings and accompanying text. We shouldn’t forget specialist handwriting practice ruling, with bold and grey lines designed to support younger children with improving their handwriting skills.
What about exercise book cover colour and material?
From blues and greens to red, orange, pink, purple and more, there’s a wide range of cover colours to choose from. Most of the time, schools will have their own subject colour-coding system that will be uniform across all year groups, creating consistency throughout the school and allowing quick and easy identification and retrieval of the right books at the time they are required. It’s good to know that cover colours from different ranges will not necessarily match, so you might want to obtain samples of colour finishes to compare before ordering if you are anxious to ensure that continuity.
Not all school exercise books are equal when it comes to cover material and finish. Even though the covers of most exercise books are made from a heavyweight manila paper that is both hardwearing and more environment-friendly than more refined, bleached paper, the quality and eco credentials of the various ranges available will differ. 225gsm seems to be the standard cover weight adopted by the majority of brands and should be the minimum to aim for if you want your exercise books to last. Always look out for covers with a sustainability certification such as FSC, PEFC or EU Ecolabel, or recycled content.
Standard manila exercise book covers do not have any kind of additional finish, hence their sometimes “raw” appearance, whereas some exercise book ranges feature either laminated covers or glossy varnished covers which offer greater protection against daily wear-and-tear or spills. This could be the solution if you’ve ever felt let down by the quality or look of your books, or need an alternative to separate plastic slip-on covers or sticky book covering film – and the time and cost associated! After all, who wants poor looking exercise books to undermine the quality of their content? Spending that little bit more on your books could have a real positive impact.
Do all exercise books have the same number of pages?
The answer is … no! The number of pages a specific exercise book has will often depend on the size and ruling, and most of the time is either 32, 48, 64 or 80 pages, even though some can have as many as 96 pages or more. Some best-selling exercise books, however, will come in two or more page counts. The determining factors if you do get a choice of number of pages will be how often the books are used (Is it a daily or weekly lesson?) and how long you’d like them to last. Do you prefer a separate book for each term or half term? Does the book need enough pages for a whole academic year? Do the children take an unfinished book with them into the next school year?
You might also want to consider simple, practical aspects … the more pages, the heavier the books and the taller the stacks of books, which may turn out to be an issue when carrying or storing them. The likelihood of the covers and pages suffering damage clearly increases if you pick a higher page count and the books are going to be in use for longer. Finally, the cost of exercise books tends to rise with the number of pages, although greater production volumes mean the highly popular 80 page books offer better value for money.
Is there anything else I should think about when choosing school exercise books?
So, A4 exercise books with 80 pages of 8mm ruled paper with margin in any cover colour you like may overwhelmingly outsell any other type, but it goes to say they’re not right for everybody …
Did you know you could cater for children, young people and even adults who suffer from symptoms of visual stress including dyslexia with tinted paper exercise books? With smaller packs than mainstream, white paper exercise books, you can be fully inclusive and improve learning outcomes for those with special needs.
Have you thought about how your choice of exercise books could support your school’s policies? AFL (Assessment for Learning) books are designed to help schools standardise assessment, with dedicated space on each page for teacher feedback and pupil reflection, plus space for recording targets and progress inside the covers.
You may also decide to explore the endless flexibility of bespoke exercise books. Whether it’s personalising standard, “off the shelf” books with your school name or logo, creating your own inner page ruling and assessment format or designing entirely unique, full colour covers, there’s very little that can’t be achieved. Bespoke school exercise books not only look the part, but they’re also a proven way to improve pupil, staff and parent engagement, and raise standards and attainment.
So you think you’re ready to shop for your school exercise books? Our exercise books couldn’t be easier to navigate, with clear range information and size, ruling, cover colour and page count selection.
