RECOMMENDED SIZEMARK PERCENTAGES PER CLASSROOM School Year Implications Nursery

BS EN 1729 Chair and Table Guide
These standards supersede the old British
standards
BS 5873-1:1980, BS 5873-2:1991, DD
ENV1729-1:2001, BS5873-3:1985 and DD
ENV1729-2:2001 which are now obsolete.
Whilst most existing school furniture will pass
BS EN 1729 part 2, the fundamental changes
to compliant furniture design are in BS EN
1729 part 1 which relates to the appropriate
size, shape and ergonomic design of classroom
furniture to maintain good posture and reduce
RSI and back pain in school children.
A guide to purchasing school
furniture with compliance to the
British and European Standards
The British and European Standards for
“Chairs and tables for educational
institutions” were approved in January 2007.
The standards are:
BS EN 1729 part 1 –
Functional dimensions
BS EN 1729 part 2 –
Safety requirements and test methods
SIZEMARK
1
SIZEMARK
2
SIZEMARK
3
SIZEMARK
4
To help you purchase furniture that
complies to the British and European
standards, the following Sizemark guide
indicates which fixed seat heights and
table heights are suitable for the child’s
age or key stage.
SIZEMARK
5
SIZEMARK
6
Height
mm
1100
1060
STANDING
TABLE
HEIGHT
1000
1000
900
880
800
760
760
700
670
600
640
590
590
530
500
460
460
430
400
CHAIR
HEIGHT
380
350
310
300
TABLE
HEIGHT
710
260
200
100
0
3
4
NURSERY
5
6
7
8
KS1
9
10
11
KS2
12
13
14
PRIMARY
15
KS4
KS3
16
17
18
Age
POST 16
SECONDARY
ADJUSTABLE FURNITURE SIZE A
ADJUSTABLE FURNITURE SIZE B
RECOMMENDED SIZEMARK PERCENTAGES PER CLASSROOM
School Year
Nursery
Keystage 1
Keystage 2
Keystage 3
SIZEMARK 1 SIZEMARK 2
SIZEMARK 3
SIZEMARK 4 SIZEMARK 5 SIZEMARK 6
Implications
100%
Small 4 year olds may find the
chairs slightly too high
100%
33.33%
Purchasing furniture across three
year groups will lead to a higher
degree of mismatch.
As each classroom will have two
sizes of chairs, a degree of
classroom management is
required to ensure correct fit
(ie children sit at the
appropriate height chair)
66.66%
Tall 13 year olds may find chairs
slightly too low
100%
Keystage 4
100%
Short 14 year olds may find chairs
slightly too high
Post 16
100%
Very short students may find
chairs slightly too high and very
tall students may find
chairs slightly too low
A more accurate guide to purchasing the correct height
furniture for the individual child in compliance with the
standards is to measure the stature and the Popliteal height
of the child and then to match those measurements with the
following sizemark guide.
Stature
• Popliteal height defines the correct seat height. The
measurement is taken from the floor to the back of the
knee when seated with thighs horizontal and lower leg
vertical with feet flat to the floor.
• Stature is from floor to the top of the head.
Standing
Work
Height
• Sitting work height defines the correct table height. The
measurement is determined by sitting elbow height which
is the distance from the floor to the underside of the
elbow whilst sitting with the upper arm vertical and the
lower arm horizontal.
Sitting
Work
Height
• Standing work height defines the correct standing table
height. The measurement is determined by standing elbow
height which is the distance from the floor to the
underside of the elbow of a standing person with the
upper arm vertical and lower arm horizontal.
Popliteal
Height
COLOUR
CODE
ORANGE
FEET
VIOLET
FEET
YELLOW
FEET
RED
FEET
GREEN
FEET
BLUE
FEET
SIZE
MARK
1
2
3
4
5
6
AGE
RANGE
3
4-5
6 -7
8 - 10
11 - 13
14 - 18
POPLITEAL
HEIGHT RANGE
250 - 280
280 - 315
315 - 355
355 - 405
405 - 435
435 - 485
STATURE
RANGE
930 - 1150
1080 - 1210
1190 - 1420
1330 - 1590
1460 - 1765
1590 - 1880
STANDING
TABLE HEIGHT
590
670
760
880
1000
1060
TABLE
HEIGHT
460
530
590
640
710
760
CHAIR
HEIGHT
260
310
350
380
430
460
The best way to provide the best fit furniture for each individual pupil is to provide adjustable furniture. Adjustable furniture should cover two
or more size marks and should be easily identifiable by size mark colour codes. The adjustability should be easy to operate without the need
for excessive force or specialised tools.
Adjustable furniture can be costly, but will provide the best fit to children. Furniture must be easy and quick to adjust to avoid disruption to
lessons. Children will need to be trained in the use of such furniture. It will require a degree of classroom management to ensure correct fit.
All educational furniture pages in this catalogue will
be marked with the following logos to inform you
whether the furniture featured is fully/partially or
non compliant to EN1729 Part 1 and 2.
Not
compliant to
EN1729 Part 1
Based on Figures NA.1, NA.3 and Table NA.1 from BS EN 1729-1:2006. British Standards can be obtained in
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