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Cost over colour? It’s not that black and white.

Keeping a classroom full of children focussed is no easy task. In a world of constant digital distraction, capturing and holding students’ attention is a challenge every teacher faces.

So, when a worksheet printed in tired grey text lands on their desk, we can forgive a student for being less than enthused about it. Now picture the same content, whether it’s a timeline, diagram, or vocabulary grid, printed in vivid, well-chosen colour.

The difference goes far beyond aesthetics — it changes how students process and retain information.

Colour stimulates the brain in ways that monochrome simply can’t. It has the power to boost memory retention, sharpen attention, lift the mood, reduce cognitive stress, and even encourage creativity.

What colour can do in the classroom

Research into the effects of colour on human learning and behaviour reveals a kaleidoscope of benefits that can have an immediate and lasting impact in the classroom:

  • Memory and retention: Colour-coded information is processed more distinctly by the brain, with students significantly more likely to recall material presented in colour.
  • Productivity: Clear visual hierarchy created through colour helps students navigate content faster, reducing the cognitive load of filtering masses of information.
  • Segmentation and tracking: Colour makes it easy to distinguish subjects, tasks, deadlines, or learning stages at a glance, which can be especially powerful in planners, timetables, and progress trackers.
  • Mood and stress: Warm, well-considered colour has been shown to reduce anxiety and create a more positive learning environment.
  • Creativity and engagement: Particularly for younger learners, colour signals that something is worth paying attention to.

But how can schools scale colour, without scaling costs?

While the benefits of more colour in the classroom may be compelling, balancing the budget is a constant challenge for schools.

A typical UK secondary school produces hundreds of thousands of printed pages per year. From worksheets and revision resources to timetables, planners and newsletters, the volume is enormous.

For many schools, the default has been to keep most of that in black and white simply because colour printing felt out of reach financially.

But with the right technology in place, your school can afford to splash a lot more colour than you might think.

RISO in action for education

At RISO our ComColor Series is designed to deliver the lowest running costs on the market and exceptional productivity for schools, academies and universities.

Independent evaluations from a range of our customers have proven the RISO ComColor Series to be among the most reliable devices in their class whilst our award-winning technology makes high-volume printing faster, simpler and more efficient.

Across the Lift Schools network, several have made the switch to RISO and found it transformed both classroom materials and confidence in using them. Teachers now have full-colour capability to evolve curriculum content, with the added benefit of being able to monitor and control usage — all at a lower cost than before.

“Overall, what RISOs do is give us value for money. If the RISO solution did not exist, my printing/copying bill would be significantly larger.”

Clive Hammond, Lift Schools Head of Procurement

Making colour work for your budget

With greater budget pressure, growing classroom sizes and a need for rapid and reliable printing, we know just how important a cost-effective printing solution can be for schools, academies, trusts, and beyond.

No matter how complex your requirements may be, we can help you identify cost-savings and deliver a print solution that offers:

  • The lowest running costs on the market
  • High-speed productivity with unrivalled reliability
  • User management to control and monitor costs
  • Low power consumption to save on energy bills

Colour in the classroom isn’t just about making materials look better — it’s about helping students learn more effectively, stay engaged, and reach their full potential. With the right print technology in place, schools can unlock all these benefits without stretching their budgets.

If you’re ready to see how cost-effective colour printing could transform your classroom materials, contact RISO to find out more and book a demo.