Desktop platforms Toolkit

School software licences under review

Kable

Published: 04 Jul 2006 10:25 BST

The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) said on 3 July, 2006 that it has teamed up with management consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) to find out whether colleges and schools are getting the best "value" out of using the dominant educational licensing product, Microsoft Campus.

A spokesperson for Becta said: "Becta has always recognised the importance of ensuring schools and colleges have access to a range of products and services that represent good value for money.

"In areas where a single supplier is dominant, particular vigilance is necessary to guarantee that this happens and that institutions do not find themselves inadvertently locked in to a particular supplier via, for example, a licensing mechanism."

Participating colleges will be asked to complete an online survey, along with a four-hour interview on campus.

The deadline for interested parties is the middle of July and the results of the review will be released in September 2006.