Children spend most of the school day listening. A classroom that echoes or hums makes that harder for everyone, and hardest for younger children, children working in a second language, and children with hearing loss or additional needs. That is why several countries publish acoustic standards written specifically for schools. They differ in detail and in legal weight, but they all ask the same basic questions.
What every classroom standard is trying to control
Three things come up again and again. First, reverberation: how long sound hangs in the room after a voice stops. Too much, and each word smears into the next. Second, background noise: the hum of ventilation, projectors and traffic outside. Too much, and the teacher’s voice has to compete. Third, sound insulation: how much noise gets in from the corridor, the music room or the classroom next door. Most standards also set different requirements for different kinds of space, because a music room, a sports hall and a small group room for children with hearing difficulties all need different things.
The figures themselves vary by standard, by room type and sometimes by room size, so the honest answer to “what should my classroom be?” is always “it depends which standard applies and what the room is for”. The sections below explain which standard that is likely to be.
England: BB93
In England the reference is Building Bulletin 93, Acoustic design of schools: performance standards, published by the Department for Education. It sets performance standards for reverberation, indoor ambient noise and sound insulation for each type of teaching space, with different expectations for new buildings and for refurbishments, and tighter requirements for spaces designed for pupils with special hearing or communication needs. Meeting BB93 is the normal way for a new school building to show it satisfies the acoustic requirement of the Building Regulations, which is why architects and contractors who work on schools in England tend to know it well. The rest of the UK has its own regulations and guidance, so check which applies where your school is.
United States: ANSI/ASA S12.60
In the US the reference is ANSI/ASA S12.60, the American National Standard on acoustical performance criteria, design requirements and guidelines for schools. Like BB93, it covers reverberation and background noise in core learning spaces such as classrooms, with targets that depend on the size of the room. Unlike BB93, it is voluntary in itself. It becomes a requirement where a jurisdiction or a project adopts it, for example through a green building code or a school certification scheme that references it. It also says plainly that some spaces, such as music rooms and gyms, need their own treatment.
Australia and New Zealand: AS/NZS 2107
Australia and New Zealand share AS/NZS 2107, which gives recommended design sound levels and reverberation times for building interiors of many kinds, from offices to hospitals. Teaching spaces are one group within it. Rather than a single hard limit, it generally gives a recommended range for each type of room, which leaves the designer some judgement about where in that range a particular space should sit.
Germany: DIN 18041
In Germany, DIN 18041 deals with the acoustic quality of rooms, known in German as Hörsamkeit. It sorts rooms into groups according to how they are used. Rooms for speech and teaching, such as classrooms and meeting rooms, sit in one group, and their reverberation target is not a single fixed figure: it changes with the size of the room. It also assumes the room is in use, with people in it, which is a different starting point from standards that assume an empty but furnished room.
Everywhere else
Many countries do not have a classroom acoustics standard of their own. In that case, World Health Organization guidance on noise in schools is a common reference point, and the standards above are often borrowed as good practice. If you are unsure which applies to you, a local building control body, education authority or acoustic consultant can tell you.
Why two classrooms with the same target can need different fixes
Even under the same standard, two rooms that look alike can need very different amounts of treatment. Ceiling height, hard floors, large windows, and whether the target assumes an empty or an occupied room all change the result. A suspended ceiling of acoustic tiles may already be doing most of the work in one room, while an older room with a high plastered ceiling may need far more. That is why it is worth predicting the room before ordering anything, rather than buying a set number of panels and hoping.
Where Echo fits
Echo, from AcoustaPLOT, predicts how much a particular classroom echoes, checks it against the standard for the region and room type you choose, and compares practical ways to bring it into line. You get a report you can take to a supplier or a governors’ meeting. It is an indicative design guide: where a formal compliance sign-off is needed, an acoustic consultant still has a role.
Echo is an indicative design guide, not a guarantee of performance or a substitute for a consultant where one is required.