WiFi for schools, Multi-Academy Trusts and school districts
Cloud-managed school WiFi that's KCSIE-aligned, DfE-ready, CIPA-compliant and FERPA-safe - layered over the network you already have.
Purple delivers safe, secure and statutory-ready school WiFi for primary, secondary and K-12 schools - whether you're running a single school, a UK Multi-Academy Trust or a US school district. Layer our cloud platform over your existing infrastructure to standardize networks across every site, support phone-free school policies, hit your compliance benchmarks, and keep students safe online.
- Statutory-ready: KCSIE & DfE-aligned for UK schools, CIPA-compliant for US K-12 WiFi
- Centrally managed: one console for every school, trust or district
- Cloud overlay on Cisco, Aruba, Juniper Mist, Meraki and Ubiquiti
The education sector in numbers
The five challenges keeping school IT teams awake at night
UK schools, Multi-Academy Trusts, US school districts and individual K-12 schools face digital pressures the rest of the public sector doesn't see: statutory phone bans, state-level legislation, escalating cyber attacks, DfE and CIPA compliance benchmarks, fragmented IT estates, and budgets that have to stretch across all of it. Purple is built for that reality.
Aging infrastructure vs. tight budgets
Most schools run on aging hardware with patchy WiFi coverage, and UK capital budgets and US E-Rate funding both have hard limits. Purple is a cloud overlay on the kit you already have - Cisco, Aruba, Juniper Mist, Meraki, Ubiquiti.
Phone-free school policies
UK statutory guidance and US state legislation (Florida, California, Indiana and others) require schools to be phone-free all day. Purple's network policies, smartwatch detection and BYOD management enforce that at the network level, not just the playground.
Escalating cyber security threats
K-12 schools and Multi-Academy Trusts are among the most-targeted industries for ransomware, phishing and data breaches. Purple's passwordless authentication (EAP-TLS), WPA-Enterprise and identity-led iPSK remove the shared-password problem in a single move.
MAT and district standardization
Most Multi-Academy Trusts and US school districts are built from schools that ran different IT stacks before joining. Purple lets trust and district IT directors manage every campus from one console, while preserving per-school branding where it matters.
Guest access and BYOD
Parents, contractors, supply and substitute teachers, examiners, governors, board members, smartwatches, personal phones - a modern school has more visitors than most public buildings. Purple's branded captive portal and per-device segmentation manage them all safely.
Built for the statutory frameworks you have to comply with
Compliance looks different on each side of the Atlantic, but the underlying job is the same: keep students safe online, keep their data protected, and prove it to inspectors. Purple is built to support both jurisdictions out of the box.
For UK schools and Multi-Academy Trusts
KCSIE-aligned, DfE-ready
Keeping Children Safe in Education is statutory guidance, and safeguarding is "everyone's responsibility" - including the IT estate. Purple Shield provides the filtering and monitoring layer KCSIE expects, with category-based blocks, custom blocklists, real-time reporting, and full audit trails for inspections. Online safety - including misinformation, disinformation and harmful content - is enforced at the DNS level, before it reaches the device.
Purple also supports your roadmap to the DfE's six core digital and technology standards, mandated by 2030:
| DfE standard | How Purple helps |
|---|---|
| Broadband Internet | Cloud architecture takes pressure off on-site infrastructure and supports the primary (100/30 Mbps) and secondary/college (1 Gbps) targets |
| Wireless Networks | Centrally managed WiFi with seamless connectivity, mobility and device management across every school in your trust |
| Network Switching | Cloud overlay works with the modern switching kit you've already deployed - and through every phase as you replace legacy hardware |
| Cyber Security | Passwordless WiFi (EAP-TLS), MFA-friendly access, WPA-Enterprise and identity-led iPSK remove shared-password risk at root |
| Filtering and Monitoring | Shield content filtering and audit-ready reporting across school-managed and BYOD devices |
| Digital Leadership and Governance | Dashboards for digital leads, trust boards and governors to evidence compliance and plan upgrades |
For US schools and school districts
CIPA-compliant, FERPA-safe
US schools that receive E-Rate funding must comply with the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA). Purple Shield delivers the content filtering, monitoring and reporting required under CIPA, with category-based blocks, custom blocklists, and audit trails that hold up under federal review. Student data is handled in line with FERPA expectations - parental consent at WiFi sign-on, audit trails for every data point captured, and ESSA-aligned safeguards for student records.
- CIPA-compliant content filtering across school-managed and BYOD devices
- DNS-level enforcement of inappropriate content categories
- FERPA-safe data handling at the point of WiFi sign-on
- ESSA-aligned student data safeguards
- Audit trails for federal review and E-Rate compliance
One platform for every school in your trust or district
Multi-Academy Trusts and US school districts share the same operational reality: schools acquired or consolidated from before unification, running different IT stacks, vendors and policies, with central IT teams trying to bring it all under one roof. Purple's cloud platform consolidates all of it. Set trust- or district-wide policies once, layer school-specific branding on top, and let each school's IT team manage what they need to manage. Trust IT directors and district IT directors get the same thing: a single console, single analytics dashboard, and single source of truth across every site. Whether you call it Multi-Academy Trust WiFi or school district WiFi, the platform is the same.
- Trust- or district-wide policy framework with school-level customization
- One console, one set of credentials, every site
- Per-school captive portal branding
- Trust-/district-wide analytics with per-school drill-down
- Works with Cisco, Aruba, Juniper Mist, Meraki and Ubiquiti
Supporting phone-free school policies at the network level
Whether you're enforcing UK statutory phone-free guidance, a US state-level phone ban (Florida, California, Indiana and others have passed legislation), or a district- or trust-level policy, you have the same problem: pouches and lockers don't catch everything, and IT support is essential for the devices that slip through. Purple's network policies treat unauthorized devices accordingly: smartwatches and smartphones can be detected, throttled, redirected to a holding page, or denied access entirely during school hours. Parents and visitors get a separate, controlled experience.
- Detect and segment smartwatches, smartphones and unauthorized BYOD
- Time-of-day policies for school-hour enforcement
- Parent and visitor access on a fully separated network
- A network-level companion to physical pouch and locker strategies, at a fraction of the cost
Cyber security that goes beyond the password
K-12 schools and Multi-Academy Trusts are among the most-targeted industries for ransomware, phishing and data breaches. Recent K-12 ransomware incidents in both the US and UK have caused weeks of disrupted learning, exposed student records, and ransoms running into millions. The most common point of entry is still a shared or weak WiFi password. Purple replaces shared passwords entirely - with passwordless WiFi (EAP-TLS), WPA-Enterprise, and identity-led iPSK that gives every user, or every device, its own credential. Onboarding is automated, certificate rollovers don't break access, and your IT team stops being the password reset desk.
- Passwordless WiFi (EAP-TLS) - certificates, not passwords
- WPA-Enterprise authentication
- Identity-led iPSK for staff, students and BYOD
- MFA-friendly onboarding flows
- Removes the most common school WiFi attack surface
Branded guest WiFi for visitors, parents and contractors
Open evenings, parents' evenings, supply staff, substitute teachers, contractors, peripatetic music teachers, examiners, governors, school board members. A modern school has more visitors than most other public-sector buildings - and every one of them needs WiFi without putting the curriculum or admin networks at risk. Purple's branded captive portal handles them all: time-limited access, bandwidth controls, consent capture at login (UK GDPR and FERPA aligned), and complete segmentation from your school's private networks.
- Branded captive portal with social login, vouchers or forms
- Time-limited guest access with auto-expiry
- Bandwidth controls per user, per role, per time of day
- Consent capture with UK GDPR and FERPA-aligned audit trails
- Complete separation from staff and curriculum networks
Flexible Pricing for Education
We offer special pricing for educational institutions to ensure our solutions are accessible to schools of all sizes. Choose the plan that best fits your needs.
Connect
- Secure captive portal
- Branded splash pages
- 25 supported languages
- Network analytics
- Monitor speed and venue coverage
- Compliance with major data laws
Capture
- First-party data capture
- CRM integration
- Detailed WiFi analytics
- Behavioral insights
- Email address verification
- Access to our support team
Engage
- Customized access journeys
- Personalized communications
- Advanced WiFi analytics
- Full suite integrations
- Passpoint and profile authentication
- Fully managed service options
Helpful Resources
Explore our tools and resources to help you make the most of your school's WiFi network.
Built with purpose, certified B Corp
Purple is a certified B Corp - which means we measure success by the difference our technology makes to people, not just to balance sheets. We work with schools, trusts and districts to extend connectivity into the communities around them, support widening participation in the UK and Title I outcomes in the US, and help close the digital divide. Connected schools, connected communities.
Ready to standardize WiFi across your schools?
Frequently asked questions about school WiFi
Is Purple WiFi compliant with KCSIE 2025?
Yes. Purple Shield provides the filtering and monitoring layer KCSIE expects, with DNS-level enforcement, category-based blocks, custom blocklists, real-time reporting and full audit trails for safeguarding leads, governors and Ofsted inspectors. It is aligned with both KCSIE 2025 and the DfE filtering and monitoring standard.
How does Purple help us meet the DfE's six core digital and technology standards?
Purple supports five of the six DfE digital and technology standards directly - Wireless Networks, Cyber Security, Filtering and Monitoring, Digital Leadership and Governance, and Network Switching - and works alongside your broadband provider for the sixth. The mapping in our compliance section shows how each standard aligns to a specific Purple capability.
Is Purple WiFi CIPA compliant for E-Rate eligible schools?
Yes. Purple Shield provides the content filtering required under the Children's Internet Protection Act, with category-based blocks, custom blocklists, real-time reporting and audit trails that meet E-Rate compliance review requirements. It works across both school-managed and BYOD devices, and aligns with broader state-level safeguarding frameworks.
How does Purple handle FERPA and student data protection?
Purple's school WiFi platform is designed to comply with FERPA. Consent is captured at the point of WiFi sign-on, student records are isolated from marketing data, and full audit trails are available for federal or state review. Data residency options are available for districts with specific sovereignty requirements.
Can Purple support a phone-free school policy?
Yes. Purple's network policies detect and manage smartwatches, smartphones and unauthorized BYOD devices, with time-of-day enforcement that aligns with UK statutory guidance and US state-level legislation. It is a network-level companion to physical strategies like pouches and lockers - and far cheaper to roll out across a multi-site trust or district.
How does Purple help Multi-Academy Trusts and school districts manage WiFi across multiple schools?
Purple gives trust and district IT directors a single console to manage every school. Set trust- or district-wide policies once, layer school-specific captive portal branding on top, and access analytics across every site or drilled down to one. The same platform serves UK Multi-Academy Trusts and US school districts - the operational model is identical, just under different governance.
Does Purple replace our existing school WiFi hardware?
No. Purple is a cloud overlay that layers on top of your existing infrastructure. Cisco, Aruba, Juniper Mist, Meraki and Ubiquiti are all supported. You modernize the captive portal, authentication, filtering and analytics experience without ripping out the network you have already paid for.
Is Purple's school WiFi privacy-compliant?
Yes. Purple is built to UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, and FERPA. Consent is captured at the point of WiFi login, stored with a full audit trail, and respected across all subsequent communications and analytics.
How does Purple handle BYOD WiFi for schools?
Each BYOD device gets its own identity-led credential through iPSK or EAP-TLS, with per-device policies, bandwidth controls and time-of-day rules. School-owned devices, staff personal devices and student personal devices can all run on the same physical network while staying logically segmented from each other.
Can Purple work for a single school as well as a trust or district?
Yes. Purple scales from a single primary school to a 100-school trust or a multi-district consortium. The same cloud platform serves all of them - just with different policy hierarchies and analytics views layered on top.
Featured products for Schools
The Purple platform pieces most Schools venues deploy on day one.
Guest WiFi platform for Schools
Captive portals, analytics, and marketing automation as a cloud overlay.
Captive portal software for Schools
Modern captive portals with social login, SSO, and marketing consent.
Passwordless WiFi for Schools
EAP-TLS, iPSK, and Passpoint — replace shared passwords with identity.
Recommended solution for Schools
WiFi for IT & network teams. Cloud captive portals, RADIUS, and analytics layered on top of Cisco, Aruba, Juniper Mist, Meraki, and Ubiquiti.
See WiFi for IT & network teams →Related pillar guides
The topical pillars most relevant to Schools. Each guide is the canonical hub for that area of the platform.
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