RELATED: Can parents and visitors use school EV chargers?
The Tax Position, Plainly
Workplace charging sits under a specific HMRC exemption. Electricity provided by an employer at or near the workplace, available to employees generally, is not a taxable benefit. No benefit in kind, no National Insurance, no reporting. Schools are employers like any other here, the exemption covers teachers and support staff the same way.
That makes free charging one of the cheapest genuine benefits a school can offer. The electricity for a teacher’s full daily commute costs the school around a pound a day, and recruitment adverts that mention free EV charging read very well against schools that cannot.
The Three Policies Schools Run
Free for all staff is the simplest and the best benefit. A cost recovery tariff, typically set near the school’s own unit rate, keeps the budget neutral while staying far cheaper than public charging for staff. And a small margin tariff treats staff charging like lettings income, which some trusts prefer for consistency.
The platform handles any of them. Staff register once, sessions bill automatically or not at all, and the business manager sees usage per socket without touching a spreadsheet.
RELATED: Can schools make money from EV chargers?
Our Honest Recommendation
Start free. The electricity cost is small, the goodwill is large, and the exemption means zero admin. If usage grows to the point where the budget notices, switching to cost recovery is a settings change, and staff who have enjoyed free charging understand a fair tariff far better than one imposed on day one.
