Acoustic Panels in Education: Creating Spaces Where Students Can Focus

Acoustic Panels in Education: Creating Spaces Where Students Can Focus

Research consistently shows that poor classroom acoustics have a measurable negative impact on learning. Speech intelligibility drops, teachers raise their voices, students disengage. The fix, in most cases, is straightforward — but it requires the right materials specified correctly.

The Problem with Hard Surfaces

Modern school and university buildings favour glass, concrete, and hard flooring — all of which reflect sound. In a classroom with a reverberation time above 0.8 seconds, students sitting at the back of the room struggle to understand speech clearly, even at normal volume. For students with hearing difficulties or non-native language speakers, this is especially problematic.

Target Reverberation Times

For classrooms and lecture theatres, a reverberation time of 0.4–0.6 seconds is generally recommended under standards such as BB93 (UK) and ANSI/ASA S12.60 (US). Achieving this typically requires a combination of wall panels, ceiling baffles, and sometimes desk or furniture-mounted screens.

Specifying PET Felt for Schools

PET felt panels are well-suited to education environments for several reasons. They are low-VOC, OEKO-TEX certified, and free from harmful chemicals — important in spaces occupied by children for extended periods. They achieve fire ratings to EN 13501-1 Class B-s2,d0, meeting the requirements of most national building codes for education buildings. And they're available in a wide range of colours, allowing designers to create visually stimulating environments without sacrificing acoustic performance.

Feltbay has supplied acoustic panels for international schools and university projects across the UAE, and our team can support specification from early design through to installation.

A classroom that sounds right is one where teaching and learning can actually happen. Acoustics should never be an afterthought.

Request our education specification guide or a sample pack from the Feltbay team.