We're on a mission to understand indoor air quality in UK schools

The initial SAMHE project ran for two years. It generated an invaluable dataset to inform policy and practice and enabled over 1300 schools to learn about their own indoor air quality and take action to improve it. When funding came to an end in July 2024, we had lots more we wanted to achieve and lots of organisations keen to work with us to achieve it, so we became the 'SAMHE Initiative'. Through the SAMHE Initiative we continue to work with SAMHE schools and conduct further analysis of the SAMHE data and have also embarked on a raft of new projects to understand and deliver healthier air in schools.

CHILI (Child and adolescent Health Impacts of Learning Indoor environments under net zero), led by University College London (UCL), aims to ensure that we maintain and improve indoor air quality as school and nursery buildings are adapted for energy efficiency. CHILI will monitor how retrofit options, including better insulation and other adaptations, change the indoor environment. We will use SAMHE monitors to monitor indoor air quality and develop new activities in the SAMHE Web App to enable pupils and staff to explore and understand our new focuses for CHILI. CHILI will model likely impacts on children's health and education, and evaluate potential mitigations.

There is a growing interest in using air cleaning equipment in classrooms. We're working with Hertfordshire County Council to evaluate the effectiveness of installing HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air filter) units in 60 of their schools, using measurements from SAMHE monitors. We're also co-designing CHEPA (Classroom HEPA) - a new web-based tool which will enable schools to estimate the costs and benefits (in terms of both energy use and classroom air quality) of installing HEPA filter units in their setting.

STEM Learning is working with us to support schools in Educational Improvement Areas across Yorkshire and Humber, East Midlands and North East. Through this project STEM Ambassadors are using SAMHE to work with schools which are under-resourced, particularly in terms of science provision.

Read more about these projects.

Our new publication Improving air quality in UK schools brings together SAMHE's findings and other evidence on air quality in UK schools and makes recommendations for policy and practice. This publication will be shared with policymakers; local authorities; school leaders and building managers; teaching unions; and school architects, builders and those who carry out school maintenance.

On 25 November we will have the opportunity to share these recommendations with MPs, Members of the House of Lords and key stakeholders from across the research and innovation system at a reception organised by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). We have been invited to the reception to showcase the SAMHE project and its impact on improving outcomes for children. In the words of UKRI "Your work has been selected as a standout example of how UKRI-funded research connects discovery to prosperity for a better tomorrow.".

Our latest technical report examines air quality in SAMHE schools throughout the 2023-24 academic year. Once again, the analysis suggests that keeping classrooms warm during colder weather periods may, for some schools, provide a significant barrier to providing adequate ventilation, with some monitors recording daily mean CO₂ values above the maximum government guideline of 1500 ppm during cold periods.

Particulate matter levels fluctuated over the course of the academic year but generally remained below the maximum daily mean value of 15 μg/m3 recommended by the World Health Organisation.

We've also published a paper on assessing classroom ventilation rates, using data from SAMHE monitors, which shows that ventilation rates in occupied classrooms are generally low.

You can access these and all the SAMHE project reports and research papers, on our Outputs page, along with short, simple summaries which aim to make the findings accessible to teachers, pupils (with teacher support for younger pupils), parents and others. We will continue to add new outputs to the page as they are published in the months and years to come.

Discover fun, free ways to use SAMHE to celebrate British Science Week, read inspiring stories from schools and help us design a tool for schools to see the costs and benefits of installing HEPA filter units.

Access no-prep, fun activities for the last week of term, read SAMHE's recommendations for policy and practice on air quality in UK schools, download a poster for your classroom and hear about our trip to parliament!

Featuring inspiring stories from SAMHE schools, new activities and data visualisations, our latest findings and ways we're sharing them with those who can make a difference to air quality in UK schools.