Lighting

And its effect on learning environments

Light levels

Children learn less well when light levels are low, and behaviour also suffers. There is an equity issue too, when light levels are uneven across a room. The Learnometer will measure light levels between 0 and 64,000lux in brightness.

Professor Heppell’s guide would be above 500 lux, with a target of 750 to 1,000 – but being careful to get suitable Kelvin values in your electrical lighting too. A minimum of 250 lux if there is only conversation taking place.

“Poor lighting is a significant barrier to learning. Our work is confirmed by recent school environment studies, and detailed research for other working environments. For example recent research confirms evidence that good lighting significantly influences reading vocabulary and Science test scores (Barrett et al., 2015). Learnometer reports lumen (lux) levels throughout the day and plots them constantly and automatically for you wherever it is installed.

Our guide would be above 500 lux, with a sensible target of 1,000 – but being careful to get the “right” Kelvin values in your electrical lighting too.”

Stephen Heppell

Learnometer Inventor