A school kitchen cooks hard for a short time. Breakfast club, a lunch service for several hundred pupils in ninety minutes, and perhaps an after-school session add up to four to six cooking hours a day, term time only. Under TR19 Grease that is light use in most primary schools, cleaned every twelve months, and moderate use in larger secondaries and colleges with longer service periods, cleaned every six. A college with a hospitality department running a training kitchen and a public restaurant may even reach the heavy-use band and its three-month interval, depending on the timetable.
Timing around the school year
The obvious advantage schools have is thirteen weeks a year when the kitchen is empty. The summer holiday is the natural time for the annual clean, with Easter or the October half-term for the second visit where a six-month interval applies. Two practical points follow. Holiday slots are in demand, because every school in the area wants the same fortnight, so a clean booked in May for August is far easier to secure than one requested in July. And a kitchen that closes for six weeks with grease in the duct is not improved by the wait; the deposit hardens and the fan can seize, so book the clean early in the break rather than the day before term.
Who is responsible: caterer or school
Most school meals come from a contract caterer or an in-house or local authority catering service, and the extract system can fall between them. The catering contract should say who maintains the ventilation; where it is silent, the general position is that the extract is part of the building and remains the responsibility of the school, academy trust or local authority as the responsible person under fire safety law. In practice the caterer's staff clean the filters and canopy surfaces daily, and the school or trust arranges the specialist clean. Whichever party pays, the school should hold the certificate, because the governing body or trust board has to demonstrate the premises are safe.
| Setting | Typical cooking hours | TR19 band | Suggested timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary school, single canopy | 3 to 5 | Light | Summer holiday, annually |
| Secondary school or academy | 5 to 7 | Light or moderate | Summer and Easter |
| Sixth form or FE college with a public restaurant | 6 to 10 | Moderate | Summer and Christmas |
| Boarding school with seven-day catering | 8 to 12 | Moderate | Exeat weekends and holidays |
Governors, insurers and inspectors
Whether a school is insured commercially or through the Department for Education's Risk Protection Arrangement, the governing body or trust is expected to show that fire risks in the building are identified and controlled, and the school's fire risk assessment should reference the extract cleaning regime. A loss adjuster dealing with a school kitchen fire will ask for the certificate just as for any commercial premises. Ofsted does not inspect ductwork, but its judgement on leadership includes whether the site is safe, and a governors' premises committee will want the records to hand. The legal requirements guide explains the duty in more detail.
Trusts and local authorities
A multi-academy trust or a council catering service with dozens of kitchens has the same problem as any multi-site operator, magnified because every site wants cleaning in the same holiday. A contract schedule across the estate lets the contractor plan the summer weeks in advance, fixes a price per kitchen and produces one evidence file for the trust's estates lead. Where records are missing, a TR19 inspection across the sites will establish which kitchens need cleaning first.
What we arrange
A school kitchen clean includes the canopy and plenum, the filters, the ductwork through to the outlet and the fan, with the grease depth measured both before and after the work. The contractors in our network hold BESA qualifications and CHAS accreditation, carry full insurance, and issue the TR19 certificate and before-and-after photo report at the end of each visit. Costs depend on the number of canopies and the duct run; a single-canopy school kitchen typically sits between £300 and £600, and the cost guide sets out the ranges. Request a quote for your school, trust or college and tell us which holiday you have in mind.
Related services: Kitchen Extract Cleaning · Canopy Cleaning · Ductwork Cleaning · Extractor Fan Cleaning
Frequently asked questions
Can the clean be done during term time if we have missed the holiday?
Yes, on a weekend or an inset day, or overnight where the site can be opened. The contractor needs the kitchen cold and empty for a few hours, not the whole school closed. If the kitchen is used for breakfast club, a Saturday works better than a weekday evening. Tell us the constraints and we will find a contractor who can fit around them.
Our caterer says extract cleaning is in their contract. Do we still need to do anything?
Ask for a copy of the certificate and the photo report after each clean, and check that the interval matches the usage band. The school remains the responsible person for the building whatever the contract says, so it should hold the evidence. If the caterer's clean turns out to be a canopy wipe rather than a full system clean, the school carries the risk.
Our kitchen is only used for lunch. Is once a year enough?
For most primary and many secondary schools, yes; a kitchen cooking for two to six hours a day is light use under TR19 Grease and is cleaned every twelve months. The grease readings at each visit confirm the band. Where the kitchen also serves a breakfast club, a holiday club and evening lettings, the hours can add up to moderate use.
Do contractors need DBS checks to work in a school?
Work done during the holidays, or out of hours when no pupils are on site, does not normally require DBS-checked staff, although schools set their own policy and many ask for it anyway. Tell us the school's requirement when you enquire and we will confirm what the contractor can provide before the booking is made.